'Lads are more careful' - players looking after hurleys and buying in bulk due to ash dieback threat

Irish Hurley Makers Association chief Aidan Falconer thinks ash may be gone in a few years in this country.

ROOT OF THE PROBLEM: Ash trees damaged by the fungal disease in a forest in Chiltern Hills. Wendover, Buckinghamshire, UK.

Players are preserving hurleys and buying them in bulk as they anticipate they will be scarce due to the ash dieback.

Although he has predicted ash in Ireland will be gone in three years, chairman of the Irish Hurley Makers Association Aidan Falconer has been heartened by some recent developments in relation to Coillte and the GAA.