THE FINANCIAL crisis at Waterford Wedgwood is not unique. Cracks in the crystal industry go beyond Ireland. The situation is pan-European, says Dublin Crystal managing director and owner Martin Taylor. His company is in business 40 years and is the only crystal company in Ireland under its original ownership. Last year, it turned over approximately €1 million.

“There’s a huge number of factories in trouble in Slovakia and Poland, Germany and the UK,” he says.

The Czech Republic’s Bohemia Glassworks went into liquidation three months ago. Belarus’s Slav Glass too is gone. Both were suppliers to the Irish market. All of Tipperary and a lot of Waterford Crystal is made at Rogaska Crystal in Slovenia. Other brands that use the same source are Ralph Lauren and some Tiffany.

The crystal industry is in trauma, agrees Declan Fearnon, managing director and majority shareholder in Tipperary Crystal, a business formed 20 years ago by a group of former Waterford Crystal workers. A surveyor by profession, he took over the reins at Tipperary in 2004, although the Ryan family still maintains a minority shareholding in the company. Last year, it had a turnover touching €10 million.

“Five years ago, the retail value of the Irish crystal industry was €35 million,” says Mr Fearnon. He now estimates it is worth under €30 million.

“What has happened is that the market has changed. The heavy cut glass styles are a thing of the past. Consumers want sleek plain designs,” he says.

Lighting is another big growth area, offering potential diversification opportunities to crystal companies. Lighting accounts for 30 per cent of Tipperary’s overall sales – including the very successful designs by Louise Kennedy. At Tyrone, it has grown to 12 – 15 per cent of turnover.

“People are not buying stemware anymore, people want purchases to be more useful,” says Camilla Fearnon, who oversees all the new ranges designed by Tipperary. “The days of the dustables are over for now.”

Despite the success of Waterford’s partnership with John Rocha and Tipperary Crystal’s deal with Louise Kennedy and others, the crystal-buying demographic is ageing. The product is no longer part and parcel of the middle-class home. People no longer have dressers or display cabinets to show off this type of homeware, laments Taylor.

Peter Nunn of Tyrone Crystal disagrees. “I don’t see crystal as being old-fashioned. It is and remains a premier product.”

Martin Sharkey is financial director of the Belleek Group which bought Galway Crystal in 1997. “We modernised Galway,” says Sharkey. “This is helped in part by our retail base of 22 stores, 16 of which are within Debenhams stores and that has been very good for us.”

Galway’s turnover last year was €8 million and accounts for 30 per cent of the overall Belleek Group.

Sharkey estimates a mere 1 per cent of all crystal sold in Ireland is made here. Has that fact had an impact on business?

Greg O’Gorman, marketing manager with the Kilkenny Group, which has 11 consumer outlets and is one of the top three retailers of crystal in the State, thinks not. “Consumer trends tell us the point of manufacture is not as important to consumers in their 20s to 40s.”

The demise of crystal factories overseas has meant that Galway Crystal has lost some of its suppliers. This offers opportunities, says Sharkey. “We’re heading further and further east sourcing new products, technology and more competitive price points.”

Tyrone Crystal split from Tipperary Crystal in 2003 and had a turnover of about €2 million in 2008. It stands out from most of the other brands in that it manufactures 93 per cent of its product range at its Dungannon plant. Seventy per cent of its business is in Northern Ireland.

The market is tough, but it was tough in 2003, says Nunn. “The question then was whether to outsource or not,” he recalls. “It is 30 per cent more expensive to manufacture here, but the challenge is keeping people in jobs here and keeping manufacturing in Ireland. It’s a tough decision but, for us, it’s the right decision. People want to support home brands.”

Industry insiders believe Waterford Crystal will have to go into liquidation first, which potentially will hurt the brand and the Irish crystal business.

“With the situation at Waterford, no one knows where we stand,” Fearnon explains. “At present, there are no goods shipping out of Waterford, orders are pending but no orders are being processed.

“In a very difficult market, there are opportunities to manage and expand business,” Fearnon continues. Tipperary recently bought Duiske, a Kilkenny-based glass company and has also gone into the candle business.

“Eighteen months ago, we made an expression of interest in Waterford,” admits Fearnon.

“We offered to manage the brand in Ireland. Since we already produce in the same factory and sell six feet from their designs, and we have staff in stores and design really good crystal, we could manage the logistics and offer continuity of supply – hopefully they will recognise that. We feel it could work. That way, the brand stays in Ireland.”

“A crystal market without Waterford would be a much poorer environment. If it wasn’t for Waterford, ultimately none of the rest of us would be here,” says Martin Taylor.

“A market needs competitors,” says Fearnon. O’Gorman counters: “There is no competitor to Waterford in the world.”