Council to find markets for Irish hardwood
Ireland currently imports over €100 million of hardwood each year, in addition to millions of euro spent on imported hardwood window frames, doors, veneers and furniture.
Now forest owners, timber growers and hardwood users have come together to establish the Irish Hardwood Council (IHC) to help develop the market for homegrown hardwoods.
The Government’s strategic plan for forestry outlines annual afforestation of 50,000 acres, with 15,000 acres planted in broadleaf species such as oak, ash, sycamore, birch and beech. This would provide just under half a million acres of new broadleaf forests by 2030.
Details of the new body were outlined at a conference in Carrick on Shannon, organised by COFORD, the national council for forest research and development.
IHC founding members include television presenter Duncan Stewart, renowned hardwood sculptor Andrew St Leger, the owners of two of the country’s most prominent hardwood sawmills Mick Dunne and Frank Tormey, and wood and furniture consultant Stella Xenopoulou.
Ms Xenopoulou said a COFORD funded project shows that over 200 businesses are working with Irish hardwoods, providing direct full-time employment despite the small volume of hardwoods currently available.
Sawmill operator Frank Tormey, based at Mount Bellew, Co Galway, said it was increasingly difficult to source enough quality homegrown material to keep his sawmill viable. Many oak logs were being exported to England, without Irish sawmillers getting an opportunity to bid.
He called for the immediate establishment of a national hardwood auctioning system through which all forest owners could be assured of best prices.
He said Irish hardwood sawmillers could then bid for all homegrown logs, and he was confident they could out-bid foreign buyers despite the current euro-sterling exchange rate.
Duncan Stewart said most of Ireland’s forest estate is independently audited to stringent international sustainable management standards.
“This is a guarantee... to all end-users that the forests will be constantly replanted and optimised for a range of social, environmental and economic benefits.
“To see these benefits maximised, it is fitting that Irish hardwoods be processed in Ireland and thus help to recreate the wood culture that prevailed in the country many centuries ago,” he said.
