Galway wool on verge of a comeback

The Galway Wool Co-operative – a group of 40 innovative sheep farmers aggrieved at the sharply falling price of wool on the traditional route to market – has achieved a fair and equitable price by securing its own customer in Donegal Yarns.

Last Saturday, co-op members from near and far delivered the first 5,000kg consignment of premium fleece to Athenry Mart during a special ‘Wool Meitheal’ event to mark a historic day for Irish wool sales.

Donegal Yarns became the co-op’s first customer and agreed to pay €2.50 per kg – 10 times above the going rate.

One member of the Galway Wool Co-op, Blátnaid Gallagher, from Ballinasloe, said producers are finally getting a decent price for the superior qualities of their native Galway wool.

“This sale proves that Irish wool is a product in demand and there is a necessity to market it effectively,” stressed Ms Gallagher.

“The crisp white fleece, shorn from the native Irish sheep named ‘the Galway’, has been the cornerstone of the Irish wool and crafts industry for almost a century.”

Up until this year, Irish wool has joined the traditional route to the merchant – the World Wool Commodities trading floor – where the price has dropped to as low as 20c per kg.

“Most of the woollen products in retail shops are produced from imported wool, whilst Irish wool production is on its knees and annually exports 10 million kg of wool that is classified as waste,” said Ms Gallagher.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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