LEADER Wool Partnership
A group of local development companies are leading an analysis and development project to increase the value of wool. The development companies, covering Galway (East and West), Kilkenny, Clare, North Tipperary and North Kerry have partnered to support the development of Irish sheep wool as a sustainable commercial product.
The Wool Partnership have set the following two-stranded foundations for their work:
- To work towards adding value to the existing sheep wool produce in a range of products which can use fleeces that are currently typically produced in Ireland, and
- To support the development of a value-chain, from processors to the production of yarn and garments for high-quality fabric wool fleece.
CEO of North Tipperary Development Company (NTDC), Michael Murray, said “For years the Irish sheep farmer has been focused on the production of meat. This has resulted in most fleeces being unsuitable for high-value fabric production. Indeed, fleeces are often a secondary by-product or are seen as a waste product. We want to change that.”
CEO of Kilkenny LEADER Partnership, Declan Rice, added “There is a wide range of potential ‘value add’ areas for wool including product development, nature-based solutions on and off farm, tourism developments, and circular economy projects. We want to animate and support developments outside of the main agriculture element.”
LEADER Coordinator at NTDC, Patrick Killeen stated “We have brought together industry experts like Pat Byrne (Agile Executives), Tim Yeomans (MTU), and Ngaire Takano (Het Woolly Collectief) and, with our partners, we are undertaking a feasibility study to produce the optimum pathways to move towards high-quality wool production.”
The six Wool Cooperation partners are: Galway Rural Development CLG (Project Lead Partner), Kilkenny LEADER Partnership, Clare Local Development Company, FORUM Connemara, North East & West Kerry Development, and North Tipperary Development Company.
Pictured at the launch of the Wool Cooperation Project this week were Pat Byrne (Agile Executives), Agnes O’Shaughnessy (Clare Local Development Co), Tim Yeomans (Munster Technical University), Patrick Killeen (North Tipperary Development Co), Conor Carty (Galway Rural Development), Declan Rice (Kilkenny Leader Partnership), Sinead Grimes (Forum Connemara), and Steve Dolan (Galway Rural Development).
