Francis Larkin, Derrysiskal, Co Galway

“It’s getting scarcer every year. We’re finding it ourselves that, especially the last two years, timber is getting hard to come by. There’s still plenty of it out there, it’s just getting the time to knock and cut it.

Francis Larkin of TJ Larkin Hurley Makers Co Galway

“The ones in the ditches seem to be fighting [the dieback] but the ones in plantations we see are getting very badly affected by it, the ones that are heavily populated.

“Even hurlers are coming in and saying: ‘will I get 10 hurleys rather than two hurleys, because they’re afraid they mightn’t be able to get ash hurleys down the road. Some GAA players are stocking up on hurleys.

“If the new [resistant] saplings they’re letting on stream, if they could come on quicker. If they could be planted as soon as possible because it’s going to take 25 to 30 years to mature.”

Seán Torpey, Sixmilebridge, Co Clare

“Ash is just an unbelievable material. We’ve been making hurleys for 100 years and we’ve seen ash do things that people couldn’t believe in terms of flexibility.

“[The research] seems pretty exciting and really good for not just hurling but ash as something to be part of our biodiversity and wildlife. “Unfortunately, the way it is with ash dieback is sometimes the tree can look great on the outside and then once you cut it down, you realise that ash dieback has been coming through.

Sean Torpey from Torpey Hurleys, Co Clare

“There is a staining that occurs at the bottom of the tree that rots the tree from the bottom up but equally it’s rotting from the top down.

“It’s great the science is getting done but also, from a hurley maker’s perspective, there’s quite a lot of urgency; the business of hurley making needs hurleys at the end of the day.”

Peter Flanagan, Tramore, Co Waterford

“It’s great for the future of the ash tree going forward. At the end of the day, we’ve known about this issue for a long time but we know the research is happening in the background and something is being done.

“With forestry there’s huge potential.

Peter Flanagan of Peter Flanagan Hurleys, Co Waterford

“Unfortunately, the farmers got burnt in the last few years in relation to ash trees; things were slow there.

“If there’s good news in ash trees, it could get farmers to grow it again.

“You’d nearly have to resell it to them to get them to grow it again if we get to that stage of replanting [ash].

“I think it’s something we should be pushing towards.”