A full cross-section of Ireland’s timber and wood products industry was present at the first council meeting of the relaunched Wood Marketing Federation (WMF) – the organisation set up to promote wood as a “renewable, sustainable and versatile natural material” – in October.

At the relaunch in July, Gerard Murphy, chairman of WMF and a Coillte director, said there was strong demand for wood, not only in construction, but also in fencing, garden furniture and energy generation.

And he said that increased wood use meant greater market opportunities for Irish timber growers.

Representatives from sawmillers, timber traders and merchants, the Irish Timber Frame Manufacturing Association, wood preservation companies, forest owners and panel mills were all present at the first council meeting to hear how the wood promotion campaign will be rolled out over the coming months. Also present were representatives from Enterprise Ireland and COFORD.

Richard Lowe, marketing manager at Coillte, said the campaign has four main objectives – quality, education, innovation and representation.

As far as quality is concerned, the federation supports the highest standards. With regard to education, it aims to increase the knowledge and understanding of wood and wood products, while innovation means it will promote and encourage new uses and applications for wood. Under the heading representation, it will support member organisations in improving and developing their markets.

Promotional campaign

At the council meeting, an active wood promotional programme was discussed which will centre on the WMF’s successful publication Woodspec – a guide to designing, detailing and specifying timber in Ireland.

Mr Lowe said: “It was agreed that Woodspec is the cornerstone of the WMF and should be a pivot around which any generic or specific promotional programme is developed.”

Woodspec is supported online through the COFORD website where technical questions – for instance, about the use of wood in applications – can be addressed.

The Woodspec Roadshow – which includes lectures, information about the online technical support, timber standards and the use of timber – proved popular and informative through 2005 and a further series of lectures will take place in 2006.

Other promotional programmes under way include the popular television series About the House which deals with the construction and DIY sector and focuses on build quality and sustainable development. WMF is a major sponsor of the programme which is hosted by Irish celebrity architect Duncan Stewart.

Cross-border competition

A new cross-border initiative is the 3rd Level Wood Award competition which aims to increase the knowledge and use of wood in building and design education.

The competition will be open to third level colleges in both Northern Ireland and the Republic and it will be judged by a panel of wood experts. Prizes will include a bursary to enable the winning student to continue studying the use of wood.

The WMF also intends to build on the success of a wood promotional stand hosted by Woodfab Timber and Coillte at the National Livestock Show in Tullamore this summer. Here, members of the public showed great interest in the preservation and maintenance of wood – be it decking, fencing, gates and other garden and agricultural applications.

“As a result of that show,” said Mr Lowe, “it was agreed by the WMF Council that the production of information brochures was an excellent way to disseminate information.”

The first brochure will cover wood preservation and the maintenance of wood products.

A WMF working group is also getting ready to take a ‘Roadside Fencing Roadshow’ on the road around Ireland to publicise new revisions to the IS 435 fencing standard launched in August.

“The new standard takes into account the new preservative treatments that, while adding impressive durability to timber products, are kinder to the environment. There are also changes in the cross-sectional dimension of the timber posts to be used,” said Mr Lowe.

As well as publicising the change to the standard, the roadshow will promote the use of wooden fencing as the right choice for roadside fencing.

“There are many other activities in the pipeline and with the renewed enthusiasm shown by the wide cross-section of the industry, 2006 will be a busy year for wood promotion,” said Mr Lowe.