THE FAMOUS CANNING Hurleys has been forced to close after 11 years in service, the hurley-making business has announced.
Based in Portumna, the company is run by the Canning family which includes Galway hurling legends Ollie and Joe.
In a statement released this afternoon, the Cannings explained that the decision has been caused by “ongoing and persistent ash dieback disease affecting most of our supply routes”.
The statement goes on to outline two issues deriving from this problem. The first relates to “serious supply chain issues in securing quality ash planks and the delivery of same”, while there is also an issue regarding supply chain breakdown “with the number of ash planks we were able to secure to make our business viable”.
The statement continues:
“As you know, quality is at the core of every Canning Hurley we produce. We cannot compromise the quality of our products to continue to meet demand with the current ash supply issues potentially due to worsen in the future.
“We also do not wish to pass on any compromised quality issues to you our customers as we value the positive relationships that we have built with all Canning Hurley customers over the past 11 years.
“We would like to thank all our staff and our suppliers over the years for all the dedication and hard work which made Canning Hurleys a business with a genuine reputation for quality and service.
“To our customers, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your custom down through the years. It gave our staff and family great joy to see our Canning Hurleys being used from underage blitzes throughout the country right up to senior All-Ireland hurling final day in Croke Park.
“It was our pleasure as a family to produce quality hand-made hurleys for the hurling and camogie communities across Ireland and further afield.
“We hope that everyone can understand our situation and please know that it was a very difficult decision for us to make.
“Our last day of business will be Thursday 31 March 2022. Thank you all once again.”
STATEMENT! pic.twitter.com/P2vCObYotc
— Canning Hurleys (@CanningHurleys) March 24, 2022
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