HURLING IS set to become a truly Irish game again in 2018 when the last of the Hungarian, Danish and Welsh ash from which most hurleys are now made will be replaced by Irish-grown wood.
Currently Irish forests supply only 500 cubic metres of ash and 1,600 cubic metres has to be imported to meet the annual demand for between 360,000 and 400,000 hurleys a year.
Forest Service official Mark Twomey said if a special grant for thinning ash forests continues and foresters continue to reach targets of “hurleys per hectare”, Ireland will be self sufficient in 2018.
Declaring “the game is safe”, he said the aim was to get an 80 per cent recovery of suitable ash from sites. “Small volumes are already on stream and significant volumes will start from 2014 onwards where there will be Irish ash for 24 per cent of production.”
He estimated self-sufficiency from 2018 and said the Forest Service had funded sufficient ash plantations for hurley demand.
Michael Somers, Teagasc forestry development officer, told an ash hurley workshop in Thurles recently that since 1990 an average of 670 hectares of ash had been planted here annually to help meet the demand for hurleys.
“There has been problems with using imported ash from central Europe, Denmark, England and Wales, and players have been giving out about it,” he said.
“Homegrown ash appears to be the most suitable for the sticks and we have been working with Coillte and the Irish Guild of Ash Hurley Makers to ensure the best quality of ash is available.”
Mr Somers said demand for hurleys had been estimated at 360,000 a year but there was now a global demand for the sticks. “For instance, there are seven new hurling clubs after being established in Western Australia and new ones in Sydney as well and all over the States.”
He said the continuation of the thinning grants in forests was essential if the targets were to be met and said ash from trees aged between 20-40 years old was considered best for hurley manufacturing.
He said the conference, which was attended by more than 120 delegates, was told by the guild they wanted a certification system so GAA clubs would know the trees used had not been felled illegally. “They want a system similar to what applies to the rain forests and said there is a lot of illegal felling of ash, which they oppose.”