The
15th International Federation of Roofing Trades
(IFD) World Congress was held November 5-9 in Dublin,
Ireland in the fall of 2002, coinciding with the
World Slating and Tiling Championships for Young
Roofers. A reception for delegates was held at
the famous Guinness Brewery in the heart of Dublin.
[read more about this here]
The only American delegate to attend the Congress
was Joe Jenkins of Joseph
Jenkins, Inc., Grove City, PA, who, along
with his wife, Jeanine, enjoyed the complimentary
open tap at the Guinness brewery. Jenkins also
took two of his children to Dublin, daughter
Phoebe, age 12, and son Orion, age 17, an apprentice
slater.
After the Congress, the Jenkins clan traveled to
Amsterdam, rented a car, and toured the slate
mines of Europe while researching the second
edition of the Slate
Roof Bible, which is published and authored
by Jenkins (see also here).
Eight countries competed for a gold, silver, or bronze
medal in Dublin. Each team of two young roofers
with one older mentor was required to complete
the compulsory tasks illustrated below: task
1 on day one, task 2 on day two, and finally,
the free-form valley task on day three.
Unfortunately, the "slates" used for compulsory
task 1 were "fake slates," not the real
thing, and only one country (Belgium) used natural
slates for its optional task, the center valley.
Austria won the Gold medal, Switzerland took the
Silver medal, and the UK won the Bronze medal.
You can see photos of the competition on the Traditional
Roofing web site here.
The 2003 IFD Congress was held in Budapest, Hungary,
from 9 to 11 October, 2003. The 2004 IFD Congress
will take place in Belgium in the city Wépion
from 4 to 6 November, 2004. The 2004 IFD World
Championship for Young Roofers will take place
also in Belgium in the city Gembloux from 2 to
6 November, 2004. The 2005 IFD Congress and World
Championship will probably take place in South
Africa (Cape Town).
For further information about IFD please have a look
at www.ifd-cologne.de
