#SOS (Save Our Sheep)

For possibly the first time in the country's history, Ireland is lacking shearers. 

I know it's an area majority of us never think about - you'd just take it as a given that in a nation prided on it's farming background there would be plenty of workers available. But that's not the case.

On this morning's Dermot and Dave, Muireann (who is covering for the lads) gave Tom Dunne, Chairman of the Irish Sheep Shearers Association (ISSA), a call to find out how this is possible.

Tom explained how "the boom is back" and that some former shearers have moved away from the industry. 

The heatwave is a huge concern for sheep welfare too and due to the backlog they could die of heat exhaustion. That's not good.

It is a very skilled craft, but Tom surprised us with the fact that the ISSA run sheep shearing courses weekly and they are over 1 or 2 days with no previous experience necessary.

It's not just for men either as Tom stated, "we've got some great women shearers her in the country". And with the going rate of €2 per head for each sheep sheared, it's a tasty little nixer for anyone.

This weekend, the ISSA will host The Top of Coom Sheep Shearing Competition in Waterville, Co.Kerry. It will be one of the last chances for pro shearers to impress selectors ahead of the World Championships in France next year. 

Here are some of the world's finest in action:

So if you think you'd like to get up, close and personal with some wool and dish out some ovine haircuts, you can check the ISSA's Facebook page out here. 

You can listen to the chat in full by pressing the play button in the image at the top of the page.