Skills exchanged and overheads shared at a new IDA supported craft project in County Roscommon.
Opened by Desmond O'Malley, Minister for Industry and Commerce, the Strokestown Craft Cluster is made up of small factory units constructed around a central courtyard.
Wood-turning, coppercraft, ceramics and glass craftspeople are now at work here. Luthier Paul Doyle makes baroque and renaissance stringed instruments, such as the hurdy gurdy, which is demonstrated by Jan Whiteman.
One unit is occupied by Strokestown Crafts, the production branch of the Slieve Bawn Cooperative Society, which manufactures crafts for the export market.
An initiative of this kind brings craftspeople together and is proven to create employment, says Shane McCauley of the IDA (Industrial Development Authority).
John Cassin of Lilteel Coppercraft whose workshop is now based here believes that craft is underestimated as an enterprise.
It’s quite a substantial industry.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 1 May 1981. The reporter is Andrew Kelly.
