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DKIT Hospitality Students Continue Their Winning Streak at CATEX

06 March 2023

Dundalk Institute of Technology are so proud to report the outstanding achievements of their Hospitality students who represented DkIT in Chef Ireland 2023 which was held in the RDS Dublin recently.  As part of CATEX, the hospitality industry’s leading showcase, the students took part in a range of competitions held over three days.  These competitions offered the students a chance to showcase their creativity while competing against their peers from other colleges and professional industry chefs. DkIT's winners inlcuded Cloe Walsh, Volha Paliakevich, Ben Mooney and Aditya Dhole.



Volha Paliakevich a first-year student set the standard for the week as she received the Gold medal and ‘Best in Class’ in the Senior Hot Soufflé competition. This was a super achievement for Volha in her first ever culinary competition as she competed against contemporaries and professional chefs from restaurants and hotels across the country.

Also in his first ever culinary competition, first year student Ben Mooney, showcased his exceptional culinary skills in capturing Silver and the ‘Best in Class’ in the Junior Chicken Sauté competition.  Ben put in a lot of effort in preparation for the contest and was naturally overjoyed with the much deserved second place. He plans to proudly wear his medal in the kitchen of The Claremont who were very supportive of Ben in his preparation.

3rd years, Cloe Walsh and Aditya Dhole returned to familiar territory in the RDS as previous medal winners and didn’t disappoint.  Cloe followed on from her Knorr Student Chef success last year and won Silver in the Junior Pork Competition competing against students and chefs from the industry.  Aditya adds to his medal count with a Silver in the Senior Lamb competition, which was the largest competition of the week with 23 entries.  His presentation of Cooley lamb with Spring Vegetables was one of the standout dishes of the contest.

Congratulations to the DkIT students who represented themselves and the Institute in a very professional manner.  They were assisted along the way by their tutors Rosemarie Leonard, Michael Mc Namara and Alan Mc Cabe as well as receiving input from the wider Hospitality team in DkIT.

BA in Culinary Arts.

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