Ireland’s weavers fight to save Donegal tweed from foreign imposters

Published

11 months ago

December 28, 2024

admin

Weavers of Ireland’s famous Donegal tweed have called for a special protected status for their product, as the craft industry battles a raft of cheaper imitations branding themselves as “Donegals”.

Urgent efforts are under way to take advantage of a change in EU policy, which could see non-food and drink products receive the same protected designation as champagne or parma ham.

Currently, a textile manufacturer anywhere in the world can produce fabric and call it Donegal tweed, often vastly undercutting the genuine producers.

“It’s not great,” says Kieran Molloy, a sixth-generation weaver at Molloy & Sons.

He says the unrestricted use of the term Donegal “is making people think it’s a craft product, when in fact maybe it’s coming from an enormous mill in the UK or in China or Italy”.

“When people maybe think of Donegal, and they’re thinking of mountains and sheep and the craft, a lot of the time that’s not what they’re getting.”

Donegal tweed is a woollen fabric with neps – or flecks – of distinctive colours spun into the yarn as its main characteristic.

The industry hopes to be awarded a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) following a 2022 decision by the European Commission to widen the categories of goods that could be protected. This would mean only fabric produced in Co Donegal could be described as a Donegal tweed.

Patrick Temple is CEO of Donegal’s largest tweed producer, Magee Weaving, and also chair of the Donegal Tweed Association.

He says the glut of foreign imposters “does detract from the business,” adding: “It also creates a mixed message for the consumer.

“The wonderful thing about a PGI, if we’re lucky enough to obtain it, is that it creates a pure message to the consumer and they know they’re buying a genuine fabric woven in Donegal.”

Magee has celebrity fans like Sex And The City actor Sarah Jessica Parker, a regular visitor to Co Donegal.

In some ways, the tweed is a victim of its own popularity, which means larger international brands can put reproductions on the market for far lower prices than the Donegal producers.

Marks & Spencer has a range of men’s wool clothing marketed with the word “Donegal”, which features small flecks of colour.

A blazer, with the fabric woven in England and constructed in Cambodia, retails for €205 in Ireland, less than half the price of many of Magee’s authentic Donegal tweed blazers.

Mr Temple examined the M&S jacket for Sky News. “It’s a pleasant blazer, in a natural wool,” he says.

“It’s emulating, trying to be a Donegal. But unfortunately, it’s not woven in Donegal, there’s a small fleck there but we can’t call it a Donegal tweed.”

“It undercuts our position in the region of Donegal, as the genuine weavers of Donegal tweed,” he adds.

Marks & Spencer stops short of describing its clothing as “Donegal tweed”, and does not claim the fabric is made in Ireland, but did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

The Donegal weavers have enlisted the expertise of colleagues in Scotland, where the famous Harris tweed has enjoyed protection from an act of parliament passed in 1993.

The legislation means that only wool handwoven on the Outer Hebrides can be described as Harris tweed within the UK.

Lorna Macaulay, the outgoing CEO of the Harris Tweed Authority, has held several meetings with the Donegal weavers, and says the geographic protection is vital.

Without the “absolutely pivotal” 1993 law, she says “we have no doubt that this [Harris tweed] industry would not have survived… it simply couldn’t have”.

“The protection it has brought has forever secured the definition of Harris tweed.”

Ms Macaulay says an appreciation of the shared culture has led to close cooperation between the weavers in Scotland and Ireland.

“When the Donegal people approached us, we didn’t consider ourselves as rivals or competitors, and in fact a really strong handwoven sector lifts all boats. There is a real will to work together,” she adds.

The Donegal weavers hope the Scottish input will strengthen their campaign. They want the incoming Irish government to help press Brussels for the coveted protected status.

It could take 12 to 18 months, admits Mr Temple, “but it’s really gaining momentum, and we hope it’ll be sooner rather than later”.

World

At least 12 killed after suicide bombing in Pakistan

Published

11 hours ago

November 11, 2025

admin

At least 12 killed after suicide bombing in Pakistan

At least 12 people have been killed in a suicide bombing outside the gates of a court in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad, the country’s interior minister has said.

At least 27 other people were also wounded after the bomber detonated his explosives next to a police car.

Interior minister Mohsin Naqvi said the attacker tried to “enter the court premises but, failing to do so, targeted a police vehicle”.

Mr Naqvi added that authorities are “looking into all aspects” of the attack.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion, but authorities have recently struggled with a resurgent Pakistani Taliban.

The explosion, which was heard from miles away, occurred at a busy time of day when the area outside the court is typically crowded with hundreds of visitors attending hearings.

More than a dozen badly wounded people were screaming for help as ambulances rushed to the scene.

“People started running in all directions,” said Mohammad Afzal, who claimed he was at the court when he heard the blast.

Pakistani security forces earlier said they foiled an attempt by militants to take cadets hostage at an army-run college overnight, when a suicide car bomber and five other attackers targeted the facility in a northwestern province.

The authorities blamed the Pakistani Taliban, which is separate from but allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban, but the group denied involvement in that attack on Monday evening.

The assault began when a bomber attempted to storm the cadet college in Wana, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border.

The area had, until recent years, served as a base for the Pakistani Taliban, al Qaeda and other foreign militants.

According to local police chief Alamgir Mahsud, two of the militants were quickly killed by troops while three others managed to enter the compound before being cornered in an administrative block.

The army’s commandos were among the forces conducting a clearance operation, and an intermittent exchange of fire went on into Tuesday, Mr Mahsud said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced both attacks and said those responsible must be brought to justice swiftly.

“We will ensure the perpetrators are apprehended and held accountable,” he said.

Mr Sharif described attacks on unarmed civilians as “reprehensible”, adding: “We will not allow the blood of innocent Pakistanis to go to waste.”

World

At least eight people killed in car explosion in New Delhi, police say

Published

1 day ago

November 10, 2025

admin

At least eight people killed in car explosion in New Delhi, police say

At least eight people have been killed and at least 19 others injured after a car exploded in New Delhi, say Indian police.

The blast, which triggered a fire that damaged several vehicles parked nearby, happened at the gates of the metro station at the Red Fort, a former Mughal palace and a busy tourist spot.

New Delhi’s international airport, metro stations and government buildings were put on a high security alert after the explosion, the government said. The cause of the explosion is being investigated.

The city’s police commissioner, Satish Golcha, said it happened a few minutes before 7pm.

“A slow-moving vehicle stopped at a red light. An explosion happened in that vehicle, and due to the explosion,
nearby vehicles were also damaged,” he told reporters.

One resident, who did not give a name, told NDTV: “We heard a big sound, our windows shook.”

Sanjay Tyagi, a Delhi police spokesman, said they were still investigating the cause, while the fire service reported that at least six vehicles and three autorickshaws had caught fire.

Images show the burnt-out remnants of several cars and forensic officers at the scene.

Home minister Amit Shah told local media that a Hyundai i20 car exploded near a traffic signal close to the Red Fort. He said CCTV footage from cameras in the area will form part of the investigation.

“We are exploring all possibilities and will conduct a thorough investigation, taking all possibilities into account,” Shah said. “All options will be investigated immediately, and we will present the results to the public.”

The investigation is being conducted by the National Investigation Agency, India’s federal terror investigating agency, and other agencies.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in the blast.

He posted on X: “May the injured recover at the earliest. Those affected are being assisted by authorities.

“Reviewed the situation with Home Minister Amit Shah Ji and other officials.”

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the latest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

World

From US enemy to ally? Why ex-jihadist Syrian president’s meeting with Trump is a big deal

Published

2 days ago

November 10, 2025

admin

From US enemy to ally? Why ex-jihadist Syrian president's meeting with Trump is a big deal

It is a moment few could have imagined just a few years ago but the Syrian president, Ahmed al Sharaa, has arrived in Washington for a landmark series of meetings, which will culminate in a face-to-face with Donald Trump at the White House.

His journey to this point is a remarkable story, and it’s a tale of how one man went from being a jihadist battlefield commander to a statesman on the global stage – now being welcomed by the world’s most powerful nation.

Mr Sharaa became leader of Syria after the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime in December last year.

Before that he went by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al Jolani.

During Syria’s brutal civil war, he was the leader of the Nusra Front – a designated terror organisation, the Syrian branch of al Qaeda.

Back then, the thought of him setting foot on US soil and meeting a US president would have been unthinkable. There was a $10m reward for information leading to his capture.

So what is going on? Why is diplomacy being turned on its head?

After 14 years of conflict which started during the so-called Arab Spring, Syria is in a mess.

Mr Sharaa – as the head of the transitional government – is seen by the US as having the greatest chance of holding the country together and stopping it from falling back into civil war and failed state territory.

But to do that, Syria has to emerge from its pariah status and that’s what the US is gambling on and why it’s inclined to offer its support and a warm embrace.

By endorsing Mr Sharaa, it is hoping he will shed his past and emerge as a leader for everyone and unite the country.

Holding him close also means it’s less likely that Iran and Russia will again be able to gain a strong strategic foothold in the country.

So, a man who was once an enemy of the US is now being feted as a potential ally.

There are big questions, though. He has rejected his extremist background, saying he did what he did because of the circumstances of the civil war.

But since he took power, there have been sectarian clashes. In July, fighting broke out between Druze armed groups and Bedouin tribal fighters in Sweida.

It was a sign of just how fragile the country remains and also raises concerns about his ability to be a leader for everyone.

Nonetheless, Mr Sharaa is viewed as the best chance of stabilising Syria and by extension an important part of the Middle East.

Get Syria right, the logic goes, and the rest of the jigsaw will be easier to put and hold together.

The visit to Washington is highly significant and historic. It’s the first-ever official visit by a Syrian head of state since the country’s independence in 1946.

The meeting with Donald Trump is, though, the really big deal. The two men met in Riyadh in May but in the meeting later today they will discuss lifting sanctions – crucial to Syria’s post-war reconstruction – how Syria can help in the fight against Islamic State, and a possible pathway to normalisation of relations with Israel.

The optics will be fascinating as the US continues to engage with a former militant with jihadi links.

It’s a risk, but if successful, it could reshape Syria’s role in the region from US enemy to strong regional ally.