Ireland’s timber and wood products industry has banded together to fund a new wood promotional campaign.
Launched by the Wood Marketing Federation (WMF), the campaign is being supported by leading Irish organisations including sawmillers, panel board mills, timber preservative treatment companies, Coillte, the Irish Timber Trade Association, the Irish Timber Frame Association and agencies such as COFORD and Enterprise Ireland. The Northern Ireland Timber Trade Association has also expressed an interest in being involved.
WMF secretary Donal Magner said representatives of the organisations will sit on a council which is due to meet in September to discuss strategy and policy. The campaign will run for a minimum of two years.
He said: “When we know what the projects are, we will know how much money we need from the members and it will be up to them to decide what they want to progress.”
As part of the campaign, WMF launched a survey of the timber frame housing market. Compiled by Peter Wilson, a consultant with Resource Management, it shows that while Ireland lags behind other European countries in timber frame construction, it is gradually improving. In 2005 more than 25% of houses built in Ireland were timber frame, compared to 16% in 2000.
There is also growing demand for timber in other areas of construction and in fencing, garden furniture and energy generation.
