Surviving in an industry where prices have remained the same for the past 10 years is the difficult task faced by Kilcarra Yarns, the only commercial yarn-spinner remaining in Ireland.
The village of Kilcar has had a long tradition of spinning, knitting and weaving, and while numbers employed in the industry are now only a fraction of what they once were, local people are still using skills built up over generations to produce the distinctive speckled Donegal tweed yarns.
The wool spun at the factory, where more than 30 people are employed, is sold throughout the State. The nearest customer is Donegal Bay Ltd, a subsidiary of Blarney Woollen Mills based in Kilcar, where some 30 more people work.
The manager of Kilcarra Yarns, Mr Brendan McShane, says it is the only company spinning yarn in the State because it is a highly competitive business. There is little room for any romantic image, he says, in the hard economic realities of the market.
In an era of machine-washable and cheap, mass-produced clothes and when hand-knitters are fast becoming extinct, Kilcarra has to rely on its quality and distinctiveness. A great deal of time and creativity goes into dying, blending and spinning the wool.
"Prices we get for the wool are the same as 10 years ago, because the market won't take an increase. Some jumper manufacturers would tell you that they're getting even less now than they were then. So the margins are getting tighter all the time and a lot of people are being forced out of it. I would say that more than 50 factories have closed in Britain over the past 20 years," Mr McShane says.
Kilcarra Yarns Udaras na Gaeltachta, he says, is "tiny" in the world of spinners, Mr McShane adds, but it has to produce the equivalent of 3,500 sweaters a week to keep going, which amounts to about 4,000 kilos of wool.
The fact that the factory is profit-making is even more of an achievement when one considers the pressures caused by the fluctuating currency markets. All the raw material is bought through England. With the pound very low against sterling, and expected to go even lower, Mr McShane says it can make a difference of £100,000 a year to the business.
It might surprise many purchasers of traditional Irish sweaters to learn that all the wool comes from Australia and New Zealand. It is of a much superior quality, longer and softer, than Irish wool, which is only fit for carpet-making.
To appreciate the product produced at Kilcarra, you have to see the range of colours in the factory shop. Many of the finished yarns contain a blend of up to eight colours, with distinctive flecks giving them an earthy, natural look. The idea is to reflect the Donegal landscape from mountain heather to Atlantic seas.
However appealing the wool may appear on the shelf, the era of the hand-knitter is nearing an end, according to the people at Kilcarra. Ten years ago the factory was selling wool for handknitting to about 200 outlets in the Republic. This has declined to fewer than 30. Mr McShane puts it down to increased prosperity and a greater choice of clothing in the shops. The amount of wool sold for hand-knitting now "hardly registers" on the books.
Mr Des Daly, the manager of Donegal Bay Ltd, which produces the Fisherman, Out of Ireland sweaters at its Kilcar plant, says the only way to deal with the fierce competition is to go for a niche market, producing more exclusive knitwear using luxury yarns.
"There is no future in producing your basic Aran sweater, which is selling now for only £25 in the shops. The price for your traditional machine knit is coming down if anything," he says. Aran-type sweaters are now being made in eastern Europe at prices Irish manufacturers find hard to compete with.
Mr Daly says they buy 25 per cent of their wool from Kilcarra Yarns and while they like to keep their products natural, it is not always possible. Various blends, incorporating cashmere and some synthetics, are used for lighter or more luxurious garments. High quality design is also vital, as is a degree of versatility, he says.
Information on the history of the textile industry and all aspects of life in Kilcar, will soon be available in a £585,000 community centre which is under construction.
Mr Michael O'Donnell, the chairman of the committee for the Aislann centre, says it will include sports facilities, a hi-tech information and heritage centre, computer training rooms and a home for the local Irish language pre-school. The full-size basketball court will have a viewing area to accommodate 300 people. An arts/cultural room will double as a theatre/cinema.
Mr O'Donnell, who has published stories and poems in Irish and English, says that as well as serving as a social and cultural centre, it will help attract more tourists by staging cultural events.