Draft:Society for Co-operative Studies in Ireland

The Society for Co-operative Studies in Ireland is a learned society, publisher[1] and non-profit organisation for the research and promotion of the co-operative movement in Ireland.[2] The Society was founded in 1981, and it employed persuasive reasoning and real-world examples to justify a variety of economic and social structures. Delegates from all of the major co-operative fields (including credit unions) were amongst its members, along with an ample amount of academics, students, administrators, and other interested individuals.[3][4] According to Co-op News, it is an all-Ireland association that partners with University College Cork's (UCC) Centre for Co-operative Studies, and the national sectoral federation, the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS). It developed a number of open-access instructional materials, including educator packs and films for primary and secondary schools, with the goal of enhancing knowledge about co-operatives.[5]

In the 1980s, the Co-operative Development Society and the College of Industrial Relations combined with the Society to sponsor a course on worker co-operatives in Ireland, and the 'People's College' in Dublin jointly supported a course with a broader curriculum.[5] The Society also arranged and reprinted the works of pioneers of the Irish co-operative movement.[6] In collaboration with the Irish Academic Press, it re-issued (under varying titles):

  • 'AE,' Co-operation and Nationality (1982)
  • The National Being (1982)
  • Plunkett, Ireland in the New Century (1982)
  • Anderson, With Horace Plunkett in Ireland (1983)
  • Craig, An Irish Commune: The History of Ralahine (1983)
  • The United Irishwomen, Their Place, Work and Ideals (1986).[7]

As of 1982, the Society's hon. secretary was Patrick Bolger, and its chairman was Terence O'Brien.[8][9]

Patrick Hegarty TD, then a Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, launched the inaugural conference of the Society for Co-operative Studies in 1983.[10] The secretary at the time of the 1985 conference was Trevor West.[11]

In 1985, the University of Ulster launched a Certificate in Co-operative Studies course, in conjunction with the Society.[12]

In 1987, then Minister of State at the Department of Industry and Commerce, Seamus Brennan TD, during a Seanad Éireann debate regarding the Sixth Report of the Joint Committee on Small Business, referred to a report published by the Society for Co-operative Studies in Ireland, titled The Wider Application of the Co-operative System in Ireland.[13]

In 1989, the Society hosted the 'AE' Commemorative Lectures.'[14] It previously issued a publication called Co-Op Contact.[15]

In 2014, the Society for Co-operative Studies in Ireland organised a discussion on German energy co-operatives, which took place in Dublin.[16] In 2015, the Society ran a seminar on elder-care co-operatives in Ireland.[17] The Society held a seminar with Co-operative Housing Ireland in May 2017, titled Community-Led Housing: Making It Happen.[18] In April 2019, the Society hosted a seminar in conjunction with the trade union SIPTU, on the topic of Economic Democracy and Worker Co-operatives: The Case for Ireland.[19][20] In November 2019, the Society co-hosted an event with the University College Cork (UCC) Centre for Co-operative Studies on Civilising Rural Ireland.[21]

In 2019, the Society for Co-operative Studies in Ireland urged that new legislation pertaining to the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1894-2018 should include the term ‘co-operative’ in its title, and offer more precise definitions of what constitutes a co-operative identity. It also highlighted the perceived need for the legislation to differentiate between various types of co-operatives, specifically distinguishing between larger, commercially-focused co-operatives and those operated by a group of individuals aiming to address social or environmental needs.[22]

The Society participated in the UK Society for Co-operative Studies' 2024 conference.[23] Patrick Doyle was the chairperson of the Society for Co-operative Studies in Ireland as of 2024.[24]

The Society's headquarters is based at Plunkett House, Merrion Square, Dublin 2.[25]

  1. ^ Publishers International ISBN Directory 2012. Internet Archive. de Gruyter GmbH, Walter. 2011. ISBN 978-3-11-023551-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ^ Study on the implementation of the Regulation 1435/2003 on the Statute for European Cooperative Society (SCE). 2010
  3. ^ Rigge, Marianne & Young, Michael (1982). Workers co-operatives and their environment: Comparative analysis with a view to job creation. The Commission for the European Communities.
  4. ^ The Golden Triangle - Creativity, Co-operation, Action: The 'AE' Commemorative Lectures. Society for Co-operative Studies in Ireland. 1989. ISBN 978-0-9511570-1-5.
  5. ^ a b Hadfield, Miles (2024-03-15). "UKSCS conference looks at principle 6 and ways to build a co-op ecosystem". Co-operative News. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
  6. ^ Irish Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology. An Foras Talúntais. 1982.
  7. ^ West, Trevor (1986). Horace Plunkett: Co-operation and Politics: An Irish Biography. Internet Archive. Gerrards Cross : Smythe ; Washington : Catholic University of America Press. ISBN 978-0-86140-235-9.
  8. ^ Russell, George William (1982). Co-operation and nationality : a guide for rural reformers from this to the next generation. Internet Archive. Dublin : Irish Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-7165-0335-4.
  9. ^ Craig, Edward Thomas; Connolly, James; Ó Gráda, Cormac (1983). An Irish commune : the experiment at Ralahine, County Clare, 1831-1833 / and a foreword by Terence O'Brien. Internet Archive. Blackrock : Irish Academic. ISBN 978-0-7165-2349-9.
  10. ^ "Vital role of Co-ops stressed by Minister". Drogheda Independent. 29 April 1983.
  11. ^ "Conference of Society for Co-operative Studies". Donegal News. 20 April 1985. p. 8.
  12. ^ Belfast Telegraph. 5 December 1985.
  13. ^ "Sixth Report of the Joint Committee on Small Business — The Development and Management of Small Business Co-operatives: Motion. – Seanad Éireann (18th Seanad) – Wednesday, 18 Nov 1987 – Houses of the Oireachtas". oireachtas.ie. 1987-11-18. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
  14. ^ Nash, Catherine (October 1996). "Men Again: Irish Masculinity, Nature, and Nationhood in the Early Twentieth Century". Ecumene. 3 (4): 427–453. doi:10.1177/147447409600300404. ISSN 0967-4608.
  15. ^ "REU technical series 55 - Increasing the involvement of young men and women in rural development in Europe - Resource list". www.fao.org. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
  16. ^ Doyle, Gerard (2015). The Role of Social Enterprise in Renewable Energy Production.
  17. ^ "'Changing Ireland' - Summer 2015 Issue - Issuu". 2015-07-29. Retrieved 2024-10-07 – via issuu.com.
  18. ^ "Community-Led Housing by cooperativehousing". Society for Co-operative Studies in Ireland. 2018-11-27. Retrieved 2024-10-07 – via issuu.com.
  19. ^ Carroll, Bridget & Dunkin, Fiona (2019). "The Society for Co-operative Studies in Ireland in conjunction with SIPTU presents 'Economic Democracy and Worker Co-operatives: The Case for Ireland". Society for Co-operative Studies in Ireland.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ "ILO's participation in a public seminar on economic democracy and worker cooperatives in Ireland | International Labour Organization". www.ilo.org. 2019-04-09. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
  21. ^ "Civilising Rural Ireland: The Co-operative Movement, the Nation-State and Development, 1889-1939". Cork University Business School. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
  22. ^ Hadfield, Miles (2019-09-04). "The long slow road to Irish co-op reform". Co-operative News. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
  23. ^ Harvey, Rebecca (2024-02-22). "UKSCS conference to focus on co-operation among co-operatives". Co-operative News. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
  24. ^ "Co-operative Conversation with Patrick Doyle & Peter Couchman 15/4/24 @7pm". UK Society for Co-operative Studies. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
  25. ^ "SUBMISSION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JOBS, ENTERPRISE AND INNOVATION ON THE REVIEW OF THE INDUSTRIAL AND PROVIDENT SOCIETIES ACTS 1893 – 2014" (PDF). Society of Co-operative Studies in Ireland – via enterprise.gov.ie.