Council backs feasibility study on sheep’s wool

Cavan County Council has backed a proposal for the country to carry out a feasibility study into the use of sheep's wool.

It follows reports earlier this year that show the price of wool fell off a cliff-edge due to Covid. There is now a backlog of more than nine million kgs of unsold wool stock from the 2019/20 season still waiting to be sold.

Optimistic forecasts predict it will take at least 18 months before some sense of normality creeps back into the markets. But, in reality, it could be as long as 24 to 30 months.

Some wool types are even considered valueless, something which Fine Gael's TP O'Reilly, who proposed the motion at the Council's October monthly meeting, said was “very hard to understand".

“How can a commodity in this country be potentially worthless?” he asked the meeting, before noting many uses, including insulation.

He suggested that part of the problem centred on the fact that there is no scouring plant for cleaning wool in Ireland.

“It all has to go to England,” said Cllr O'Reilly, who was supported in his motion by Cathaoirleach Sarah O'Reilly.

She said there is an issue whereby wool is viewed as a “waste product”.

“That needs to be reassessed,” stated the Aontú representative.

Fine Gael's Winston Bennett agreed.

He said that wool was ideal for many uses, including as a fire retardant material.

In Budget 2021, which happened after the meeting took place, the Government committed to undertaking a feasibility study on wool.

Announced by Minister Pippa Hackett, the €100,000 feasibility study on the wool market will take into account a range of factors that have seen prices for the commodity crash in recent years.