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The Irish Cattle & Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA) welcomed the launch of the Wool Council following a meeting of sheep and wool sector stakeholders last week.
The farming organisation itself set up a wool steering group in 2020, which ICSA sheep chair Sean McNamara said was “in response to the total collapse of wool prices”.
The new Wool Council represents an opportunity for all involved in the wool sector to revitalise the wool industry, McNamara commented.
“Irish wool has been underappreciated and undervalued for far too long. I am hopeful that the formation of the Wool Council will signal a reversal of fortune for the sector,” he commented.
Supports needed
The ICSA maintains that not including a wool-based action in the Sheep Improvement Scheme was a missed opportunity to award farmers for presenting “clean, dry wool for onward use”.
“The payment rate under the Sheep Improvement Scheme needs to be increased significantly and a wool action should form part of that process,” McNamara continued.
“Such a payment would also provide a solid foundation for everything the Wool Council is trying to achieve and it’s something that [the] ICSA will continue to campaign for.”
Wide ranging
Organics chair Fergal Byrne stated that the new council is made up of a “broad range of people involved in the wool sector”.
“There are farmer representatives, shearers, merchants, crafters, representatives from industry, from textile manufacturing, as well as those engaged in research and education,” said Byrne.
“Together, we are focused on breathing life back into the wool sector, while, at the same time, increasing the return to sheep farmers for their wool.”
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