Latest news with #Irish-grown
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Healy-Rae: Time to use Irish timber for construction
The time is right to integrate timber more efficiently into Ireland's construction sector, according to forestry minister Michael Healy-Rae. He was speaking at the publication of a new report 'Research and Development Needs for Timber in Construction in Ireland' while visiting the University of Galway. The report forms part of the work carried out by the interdepartmental and industry working group on timber in construction, which aims to increase the use of wood in construction while maximising the use of Irish-grown timber. Mr Healy-Rae also visited facilities in the university, where he saw firsthand the research in timber that is currently taking place. 'With the construction sector seeking more sustainable alternatives, it is vital we recognise the role our forests can play in shaping the future of our built environment. 'This Government is committed to supporting timber use in building projects, and I welcome the dedication of stakeholders in Ireland, researchers in particular, in identifying how innovation can help advance the use of timber in construction in Ireland,' he said. The report sets out priority research and development actions to support greater use of timber in construction, sustainable building and carbon reduction. Mr Healy-Rae added: 'There is a real opportunity to increase the market for timber frame homes and the use of homegrown Irish timber in response to the housing and climate crises. 'There is also a growing interest in mass timber for mid- and high-rise buildings, and this report provides clear direction for targeted research,' he said. The minister urged stakeholders to embrace timber's role in the built environment. Over the years, the Department of Agriculture funded key timber research and green public procurement projects, helping to develop the forest sector, and supporting farmers and growers. We have thriving forestry and timber industries, and the time is right to integrate timber more efficiently into Ireland's construction sector Dr Patrick McGetrick of University of Galway and chair of the research and development group, said the report was very important for the advancement of timber construction in Ireland. "Research plays a critical role in ensuring the safe and effective use of timber as a structural material. It provides scientific evidence that enhances confidence among engineers, architects, builders and the public as end users. 'There are still many questions to be answered in relation to the use of wood in construction, not only from a structural design point of view, but also to maximise its performance, and to better understand the environmental benefits of its use as a source of carbon storage. "Addressing these questions requires academia, industry and policymakers to work together, and I am delighted to see the results and future potential of such collaboration reflected in this report,' he said. The Timber Engineering Research Group, which is affiliated with the Ryan Institute for Marine, Environmental and Energy Research, was established at University of Galway in 2004 by Professor Annette Harte to support the increased use of timber as a sustainable construction material. Read More Storm-hit forest owners left exposed by flawed insurance system
Irish Independent
04-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Irish Independent
Furniture designer's stylish self-build in Leitrim utilises surroundings with natural materials and 360-degree views
Asking price: €349,950 Agent: Daragh Hegarty (071) 9855038 Few of us have the skills required to design and build our own home from scratch. But furniture designer Max Brosi, who was born in Germany and grew up in Co Leitrim, was uniquely equipped when he set about building a home for himself and his wife Anna Marie back in 2010. Brosi had studied furniture design at ATU in Letterfrack and has been working with wood all his life. 'I know how wood behaves and how it needs to be treated. I also worked for a guy who built a number of homes, and it gave me the skills and the confidence to build our own forever home.' The resulting two-bedroom house, Skymór, comes with a unique V-shaped roofline designed to capture rainwater for use in its gardens, and has been aligned along the same principles as Newgrange – but in reverse. The Neolithic passage tomb in Co Meath is famous for channelling light to the central chamber on the shortest day of the year. In contrast, Skymór, which sits on three acres, is designed to channel light on the longest weeks of the year – this effect comes into its own around this time. 'We designed the central axis of the house to point down towards a valley where the midsummer sun sets,' explains the furniture designer. Brosi and his wife Anna Marie, who works as a primary school teacher and grew up on the land, also designed and built the 1,303 sq ft house to have a 360-degree view of the surrounding hills. The couple lived in a mobile home for a year on site before they started building, to study its conditions in such detail as to ensure they got it exactly right when it came to aspect, the views, sun movement and right down to how the wind behaves. 'This allowed us to see where the light was coming from and get a feel for the prevailing winds,' he says. ADVERTISEMENT From the outside, the most striking aspect of Skymór is its upside-down roof. 'The main idea behind it was aesthetic, but the central sheath of rubber going down the centre of the roof forms a valley gutter that allows us to collect rainwater at the western end, which we harvest for watering the garden,' he explains. The house is also raised off the ground and sits on 15 reinforced concrete stilts. 'It was better for the environment than digging a massive hole and pouring tons and tons of concrete into it,' says Brosi. 'In addition, the wind blows under the house, which carries away any radon from the ground.' On top of the stilts, there's a galvanised steel ring beam which has been bolted down, and on top of that sits a traditional Scandinavian-style timber frame, in turn clad in Irish-grown cedar wood. The floors, roof and walls of the house have been insulated with sheep's wool, which is also environmentally friendly. 'The sheep's wool comes in rolls, just like commercial fibre glass. So it's a cosy, warm house,' says Brosi. 'It also has airtight membranes which stop moisture from getting into the frame, and keep out the drafts.' Brosi did all the work himself with the help of two friends, save for the electrics, the tiling and the plumbing. 'It was cheaper in terms of labour, but it cost pretty much the same as building a block bungalow in terms of materials,' he says. The interior is as unique as the structure of the building, and exhibits Brosi's polished woodwork skills. 'It's a fusion of styles that reflect our travels, and what we've seen in other buildings we liked and thought would blend well,' he says. There's a hint of the colonial in the herringbone parquet floor in the hall and the sitting room, while there's a Scandi feel to the kitchen/dining room with its oak cupboards and minimalist aesthetic. There are wooden floors throughout, save for the kitchen which has cream-coloured porcelain tiles. Wooden cladding has been added on some of the walls to provide texture. The rooms are intentionally trapezoid in shape to make the most of the daylight. In the bathroom there's a restored Victorian cast iron bath, and here they've added a picture frame window, which offers a panoramic view of the countryside when you're sitting in the tub. In the sitting room, there's a hollow wooden surfboard that Brosi made himself hanging on the wall. He also crafted the built-in cabinetry throughout the house. 'We've got built-in bookcases in the sitting room; custom-built wardrobes in the bedrooms and built-in storage spaces in the hall,' he says. The house is designed to take advantage of the light, with the kitchen in the east and the patio and verandah in the south-west. They can be accessed from the dining room, where the sun shines during the afternoon. In the sitting room, the sun streams in through the windows in the evening. Outside, the couple have created a wildlife pond and a Japanese garden on one acre, with a verandah and a patio at the south-west side of the house. On another acre, they've planted self-sustaining woodland, and there's also one acre of meadow. The sewerage system was also designed with the ecosystem in mind. A septic tank leads into a reed bed, which in turn leads to a willow bed, and this combination purifies the water while the roots of the trees absorb all the nutrients. Their nearest neighbour is on the other side of a wood, so the house is private and peaceful. It is a 20-minute drive from the sea, and a five-minute drive from Manorhamilton, a town with a vibrant arts scene. The property also comes with a stand-alone 291 sq ft studio, where Max works on his furniture design projects. He has also built a boat in here. Now they're building another home closer to the coast in Sligo. 'It's like handing over our baby because we've put our heart and soul into designing and building it, and we never intended to leave,' he says. 'We'd like it to be bought by people who would care about and maintain both the house and the land, and are interested in the environment and wildlife. There are newts and frogs in the pond, a heron that visits every day and we have red squirrels and foxes. It's incredibly peaceful and beautiful. What we're selling is more than a house. It's really a lifestyle.' Local agent Daragh Hegarty is asking €349,950.
RTÉ News
24-06-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Plans afoot to create Irish wool brand mark
Although it has been an iconic feature of Ireland's craft heritage, Irish-grown wool has now been a loss maker for farmers for many years. Stakeholders across the island are working collaboratively to establish an Irish wool brand mark to create additional value for the product across the industry. "The wool price has been low for nearly a generation. I believe the plans are a step in the right direction," said Chair of the IFA National Sheep Committee Adrian Gallagher. The voluntary effort of the Irish Grown Wool Council involves representatives from farming organisations, sheep shearers, wool merchants and exporters, textile companies and academic experts. President of the Wool Council, barrister and farmer, Brian McInerney said the IGWC has proven a wool traceability study meaning that "it will become possible to trace wool back to an individual farm". Alongside this development, the Wool Council intends to roll out an Irish-grown wool brand mark which can be licensed for use by manufacturers and retailers of wool products. "The use of that brand mark will establish that the product in question contains a minimum percentage of Irish-grown wool. "It presents a clear message to the purchaser/consumer that the product does indeed contain a minimum content of Irish-grown wool. "The core objective is to raise the price of wool at the farm gate and to add value to the chain. Presentation of the fleece at the farm gate is the starting point," said Mr McInerney. The Wool Council was founded two years ago following a Department of Agriculture review of the market opportunities for Irish-grown wool products. Last winter, the Department of Agriculture distributed a guide on maximising wool value along with sheep census forms to farming households. The 'Shear Success' guide produced by the Wool Council in partnership with Teagasc was delivered to almost 50,000 sheep farmers. Social media videos were also produced. Mr Gallagher who is also a member of the Wool Council described the response to the shearing guides as "positive". Mr Gallagher said fellow farming organisations across Europe have presented "similar correspondence" about low wool prices across the continent. "The wool price has been low for nearly a generation, unfortunately; maybe €0.10 a kg for a horn wool or hill wool, up to maybe €0.20 a kg for lowland wool. "The values collapsed about 2014, and the Chinese market never really recovered. There have been green shoots over the past 18 months, but they haven't matured. Mr Gallagher said because the value of wool has been very low in the last ten years that "farmers have devalued it too". "Unless we as farmers add value to it, then it's very hard to expect the merchants to add value to it." Mr Gallagher said it was important to educate and train young farmers on best practice in terms of presenting sheep fleeces to add value to the product. The Wool Council is seeking to support the industry on a regional basis while feeding a national marketing and sales operation. Regional collaboration in the north west Leading companies in the north west's textile industry said that much of the competition facing Irish wool is not wool from other countries but "synthetics and petrochemical-based products". Recently, Magee Weaving and Donegal Yarns, who supply yarns for the textile industry, met with Marley Wools, a merchant in Cloghan, Ballybofey, to discuss collaboration in the sector. The wool merchant, located in the heartland of Donegal, sorts and grades wool from the north west and from along the border region for its next uses in the commercial wool chain. General Manager of Donegal Yarns Chris Weiniger said that the company has been looking at the options available for Irish-grown wool. "Irish wool on its own is ideal for certainly upholstery fabrics and in the carpet industry because it is a good strong and stable fibre." "The carpet industry is an ideal market, but it's having to be a premium because the competition with synthetic fibres is a challenge in all the various markets. "What we've been doing is establishing a specific blend, getting the finest wool that we can achieve in Ireland, and blending that to make it into a wearable product for the apparel." Mr Weinger said they have successfully developed small capsule collections within bigger collections in offerings to the consumer. "We're trying to identify and create Irish wool as a brand. It's going to be a slow process because we are competing in a global market." He said the mill in Cill Chartha is processing 10,000 -12,000kg of Irish wool annually - an amount that has increased significantly over the past ten years. CEO of Magee Weaving Patrick Temple, a fifth-generation family business in Donegal, said that wool remains the key fibre used in its mill. "We are in the process of developing upholstery, throws and other apparel garments with Irish wool. Irish wool is well suited to carpets, but we're not carpet weavers. "Wool is the key fibre with which we weave. It's our objective to use far more Irish wool." Mr Temple said: "It would be wonderful if the wool metrics are integrated into the sheep welfare schemes run by the Department of Agriculture." "I think it encompasses and creates focus around wool as a product. Wool is a key welfare element for the sheep. It also has health benefits as a natural, renewable and biodegradable product. Mr Temple echoed Mr Weiniger's remarks that man-made fibres are the biggest challenge to wool globally. "A greater use of wool creates a positive circular economy - in general, a rising tide, floats all ships." Wool used in textiles is assessed using a micron value: a measurement that indicates the thickness of a wool fibre. The lower the micron value, the finer and softer the wool. Generally, wool needs a micron value of 28 or less for textile use. The finest of the Irish Grown Wool currently comes from Bluefaced Leicester sheep, it typically measures 26-28 microns. Most Lowland and Crossbred wool is in the low to mid-30 microns while mountain/hill type wool often ranges from 36-38 microns fibre diameter and above. Irish Grown Wool is mostly classified as "strong wool," and as such, has traditionally been more suited to carpets, filled products and rugs. It is estimated that there are about 3.6 million sheep on the island of Ireland: creating about 7,000 tonnes of wool per year. This calculation is based on an average fleece weight of 2kg and the ROI 2020 Sheep Census and the 2021 DAERA Sheep Census. Is a national wool wash plant sustainable? There is no national wool washing plant or scouring facility in Ireland. Scouring is a key stage in wool processing where contaminants are removed, making wool suitable for textile use. Irish-grown wool is generally bought and traded with buyers in the UK for scouring in Bradford and onward sale in manufacturing strongholds globally. The Programme for Government has committed to examining the feasibility of a scouring plant for wool in developing an Irish wool brand. Two research projects are currently underway involving wool scouring; one project is examining the feasibility of a mobile wool scouring unit, and another EPA funded project is examining the economics of wool production. A Department of Agriculture spokesperson said the outcomes from both projects will inform the examination of the feasibility of a scouring plant. Mr Gallagher does not believe the plans for a national scouring/wash plant "will materialize into fruition". "They're down now to two wash plants in the UK. They're just about viable between the Irish flock and the UK flock." Mr Gallagher believes the (UK scouring plants) can continue to wash Irish wool separately from their own wool, as has happened previously to produce Irish-based products. "Our objective there is to try and market Irish wool globally as a product so that people know if they're buying 100% Irish wool or 40% Irish wool if it's mixed. "The fact that people are volunteering their time and efforts on the industry as part of the Irish Grown Wool Council is a step in the right direction."
RTÉ News
17-06-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
'Central to Belfast history' - efforts to revive flax industry
The city of Belfast was once known as 'Linenopolis' with the production and spinning of flax becoming a major industry all across Ireland during the 19th century. There are efforts under way to revive the industry, with designers and engineers from across Northern Ireland working on a scoping project to demonstrate how the flax fibres, traditionally used to make linen cloth and clothing, can now be woven into and added to natural fibre composites. The project is supported through funding from Invest Northern Ireland. Flax fibres can be used in furniture, musical instruments, the film industry, sound equipment, skateboards and surf boards and even incorporated into the interiors of cars and airplanes. They are a more environmentally friendly and biodegradable alternative to fibreglass and carbon fibres. The Irish-grown flax fibres have also been used in costume and set design, including in the newly released live-action remake of 'How to Train Your Dragon', which was filmed at locations and studios across Northern Ireland. "Like with our food, we've lost that connectivity to where our food comes from. We've also lost that understanding of our fibres, our fabrics and our clothing." "The natural fibre content in a car could be inside a door to cut down on vibrations, it could be for parts of the vehicle that aren't the main structure, for dashboards and say in aircraft, you could have the tray tables and the lockers and everything could be natural fibres," explained Professor Jane McCann, a designer who has been working on the study for over five years. She said people would be surprised at how strong flax fibres are, when woven or used with resin to make a composite. "Natural fibres can [be] found in surfboards, in skateboards, in tennis rackets. So there are uses where they have to be quite robust." She said work is still being done at industry level to incorporate more environmentally friendly resins into the composites. "We have the challenge at the moment that you can have wonderful, natural fibres, be it flax or hemp or wool from Ireland but the resins at the moment are not 100% eco. They might be 40%. The main answer to that at the moment is a sugar-based resin, but it's treacle in colour so you can't encapsulate prints and weaves and see the detail." "I think at one stage, there was about 40% of the population in Northern Ireland actually employed in the linen industry, which is quite mind-blowing." Composite tiles incorporating flax are being added to the construction of a new roof garden, six storeys up, at The Belfast School of Art at Ulster University. Professor Alison Gault, a senior lecturer in textile art and design there, said she wants students and the public to be able to reconnect with where their fabric comes from. "Like with our food, we've lost that connectivity to where our food comes from. We've also lost that understanding of our fibres, our fabrics and our clothing. So, this is a small design, demonstrated to reconnect with fibre and how it's grown. And flax is going to be right in there, because it's a beautiful fibre. And of course, it's central to Belfast history." The roof garden is still under construction, but Prof Gault has already taken delivery of the tiles that will be laid on the roof. "They are a combination of fibres, all biofibres, so a combination of wools, flax and hemp. And in a way, you could use any fibre in there. We have 50% bio-resin in with it. Unfortunately, we couldn't use 100% bio-resin because of the coloration, but these are really quite new innovations. "So we're going to be testing them in this environment. As you can see, we're six floors up, and so they will be exposed to the elements, so that'll be quite interesting to see how they perform." Belfast School of Art was built on its connection with the linen industry: "I think at one stage, there was about 40% of the population in Northern Ireland actually employed in the linen industry, which is quite mind-blowing, really," explained Professor Gault. "My own grandmother worked in the linen industry on this street. You know, I often tell my students I chose to be in textiles. I had that choice. My grandmother and her two sisters were made to go to into the mills, like many other people in Belfast and across Northern Ireland and in fact, Ireland. It wasn't glamorous. It was a hard place to work. And I think that we have opportunity now to look at innovative ways, such [as] biofibres into composites in the auto and perhaps the aero industries and even just for geotextiles as well. "You know, there's a lot of opportunity to use these fibres and to replace the plastics that we are currently using." Having once operated as a dairy farm, Mallon Linen in Co Tyrone has been growing flax from seed on its land for the last eight years. It is planted in May and takes around 100 days until it grows to its full height, ready to be harvested in August. The "wee blue flowers" that made the plant a symbol of Ulster, will bloom next month in July. "In July it will flower. The whole field will be a sea of blue," said farmer Charlie Mallon, who runs Mallon Linen along with his partner Helen. "The last spinning mills shut at the end of the 1980s so there hasn't been any spinning of flax into linen yarns since then." The crop is hand-pulled up to maintain the pectin levels in the root and the Mallons use an upcycled cheese vat to wet the flax, in a process called retting, which can take a couple of weeks. Once it has dried out, the flax is then broken and 'scutched' in a vintage machine from the 1940s that Charlie has managed to get working again. There is currently demand for the flax fibre from multiple markets including in the film industry where flax from the Mallon farm was used in props, banners, costumes and wigs in 'How to Train Your Dragon'. "We've got people that have used it in composite materials and designers using it for fake fur on coats," he said. There currently is nowhere to spin and weave the flax in Ireland or in the UK, but work is under way to change this too. With the help of crowd-funding, money is being raised to repair and revamp five vintage machines found in Co Down, that are currently being stored at a workshop at Mourne Textiles. The project was featured as part of this year's Future Observatory: Tomorrow's Wardrobe exhibition at the Design Museum in London. Mario Sierra, the owner and creative director of Mourne Textiles, wants the machines to bring small-scale production back: "The last spinning mills shut at the end of the 1980s so there hasn't been any spinning of flax into linen yarns since then. What we're trying to do is renovate these machines and bring them back into production. "We need to replicate some parts, which we have been doing and previously there were very different motors connected to these machines as well, so we're having to update that gap between the machines and the current technology." Another important part has also been connecting with the workers who used to operate these machines and finding out from them, how they worked. "They're still around. The skills are still there and there's still people alive today who used to use these to spin flax in Northern Ireland," said Mr Sierra. He is now trying to get in touch with people who might have space to house these machines and make them accessible to flax farmers, once they are working again. "I don't want it to be a museum that is just to look at. I want it to be a museum that is a functioning flax mill. The perfect situation would be that they stay on the island and that farmers can grow flax and have somewhere to process it." Mr Sierra said the reaction to their restoration project has already been overwhelming: "The emotional support as well as the amount of people who connected with the project on a very personal level...I think culturally, it's incredibly important that we keep this alive and bring it back. For the farming community to be able to grow a crop and then turn it into a material that can be used locally." Flax is also now being grown on a smaller scale for demonstration and tourism purposes in other counties around Ireland including Cork, Wicklow, Galway, Cavan and Antrim. Fibreshed Ireland is a social enterprise which has been tracking the regrowth of the industry on an interactive map. Co-founder Malú Colorín, a natural dyer, said: "The majority of the people who are working on restoring a full fibre-to-textile linen value chain in Ireland, know we can't go back to the old centralised systems of production, which relied on massive scaling and exploitation. "They were also not stable in the financial sense, because they completely scaled up, depending on demand. For example, during the First World War, Ireland ramped up production for uniforms and planes, etc, but as soon as the demand dropped, the industry collapsed and so many people in the mills lost their jobs. "We see the future of the flax industry more as a network of interconnected small and mid-scale farmers, processors and designers collaborating together to prioritise quality and regenerative practices over quantity and profit," she said. Mr Mallon used to be a metal worker and blacksmith and his journey to growing flax started when he wanted to make linen bags in which to store his bronze castings of Irish mythological creatures. "We used to grow flax here. I said, let's throw in an acre, it can't be that hard. And then we discovered there was no one in Ireland or England processing from that point on." Both Mallon Linen and Mourne Textiles along with those working in the composite and design industries in Northern Ireland are keen to revive the whole flax to fibre industry, but they also agree that if it does make a return, it will be very different from how it was in the past. "There's a couple of people trying to work on small-scale machinery so it won't be too largely industrialised, so that money will stay on the farm, for the farmers" said Mr Mallon. "We're basically trying to revive the whole industry again, to a reasonable-sized scale."
Agriland
13-06-2025
- Business
- Agriland
An Bord Pleanála refuses permission for grain facility in Cork
An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission for a proposed grain storage and distribution facility in Co. Cork. Comex McKinnon Limited, which specialises in the supply of Irish-grown and imported cereals and non-grain feed ingredients, had proposed to construct the development on a 3ha site at the Belvelly Port Facility at Marino Point, Cobh. The original proposed development included a building for maize storage with a capacity of 18,000t and a general grain store building, with 20,000t capacity. The development also included two weighbridges and an ancillary weighbridge office building, ESB substation, rooftop PV panels, perimeter fencing and the use of the existing jetty to facilitate cargo vessels. According to the application, the maize and grain would be imported every two weeks on average through the jetty for cleaning and screening at the facility before being distributed by truck. Grain facility On December 19, 2024, Cork County Council refused planning permission for the development. The local authority said that in the absence of 'satisfactory proposals' to upgrade the R624 regional road, the proposed development would generate traffic which would adversely impact on the road network and contribute to traffic congestion in the area. The council also said that without a final detailed operational environmental management plan, it was not possible to determine that there would not be adverse effects on Natura 2000 European sites associated with the proposed development. In its appeal to An Bord Pleanála, Comex McKinnon said the proposal represented an opportunity to significantly reduce the carbon impact of its existing road freight and logistics operations. As the development would serve a single end user not on the rail network, the company said road transport was necessary. Comex McKinnon said the relocation of port facilities from existing port facility in Kilkenny to Marino Point would remove 180kms of vehicle trips for each trip undertaken. The application outlined that all vehicle trips associated with the proposal will be at off-peak times to reduce traffic impacts. An electric HGV fleet would also be powered through the proposed PV panels. Comex McKinnon put forward an alternative option to the board which removed the general grain store with a capacity of 20,000t. The revised proposal was for storage, processing and distribution of maize only, within an 18,000t facility. An observation from a third party made to An Bord Pleanála said the application was premature pending road infrastructure upgrades in the area and would endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard or obstruction to road users. An Bord Pleanála Matthew McRedmond, An Bord Pleanála senior inspector, considered the revised design to be a reasonable proposal to reduce the traffic and transport associated impacts, and the potential dust related impacts associated with grain processing and transfer. The inspector noted the more recent refusals of permission for an agricultural fertiliser facility and a battery energy storage facility at Marino Point. He said this proposed development is entirely reliant on a road network for its distribution, but the site currently has poor road connectivity. The inspector said the heavy vehicles required for distribution would 'adversely impact on the carrying capacity of the road network serving Cobh and its hinterland'. 'It is accordingly considered that the proposed development of such a road dependant facility would be premature pending significant road improvements,' he said. The board agreed with the inspector's recommendation and refused permission for the proposed development.
