The Timber in Construction Steering Group (TICSG) was established by the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM) in 2024 to enhance the use of timber – mainly Sitka spruce – in construction projects across Ireland.

Ireland is not the only country in the world to rely heavily on one species, but unlike other countries with strong wood cultures, we tend to forget about our hardwoods and “minor conifers’ or non-spruce species when discussing our timber resource.

Yet we have a sizeable hardwood and specialist softwood resource, which amounts to 177,300ha (Table 1) or 25% of our total tree covered area of 713,150ha.

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In arriving at this total I have discounted 90% of ash and all “short-living” broadleaves (as described by the National Forest Inventory) such as willow, hazel and mountain ash which have high biodiversity merit but little or no commercial timber value.

The large sawmills have no interest in these species. When they do purchase a sale with hardwoods and non-spruce softwoods, they generally sell the logs on to smaller specialist sawmills or use in low-value products themselves.

Now a new group has been established which brings together forest owners, sawmillers, and woodworkers who “are committed to making better use of Ireland’s non-spruce timber resource”, according to its co-founder John Sherlock.

“The Irish Sawmillers Guild (ISG) promotes small-scale sawmilling as a practical, sustainable and rewarding opportunity for private forest owners and rural communities who have an interest in not only growing mixed tree species but also following the tree to its end use as well as adding value to it, he said.

The group was led by timber framing instructors James Thomson and David Stephens and participants included woodworkers and forest owners who have invested in small sawmills to utilise timber on their farms and forests

“Through training, collaboration and shared knowledge, the ISG aims to help people turn Irish-grown timber into higher-value products, supporting local enterprise and responsible forest management,” said Sherlock recently at one of ISG’s two-week workshops, which was supported of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and the North East Forestry Group (NEGG).

The training course in Timber Frame Construction was held in Sherlock’s sawmill in Gainstown outside Navan.

This initiative builds on three previous DAFM-supported projects: Hardwood Focus; Woodland to Workshop; and Adding Value to Hardwoods.

The recent workshop used Douglas fir, but other species have been used in previous events.

The group was led by timber framing instructors James Thomson and David Stephens and participants included woodworkers and forest owners who have invested in small sawmills to utilise timber on their farms and forests.

“The next phase will build on these workshops as well as developing a strong network of owner-sawmillers with the skills to process and sell locally grown timber,” said Sherlock.

For more information visit: www.irishsawmillersguild.ie.