Who we are

Our core business is to provide vision, leadership and value to the co-operative movement in Ireland. We use our collective voice to put the needs of the co-operative movement and our member co-ops to the forefront of what we do. We draw upon the pioneering, innovative and tenacious spirit of our founding members to help strengthen our co-operatives operating in today’s ever changing and competitive world.

ICOS member co-operatives and their associated companies collectively have over 150,000 individual members, employ >12,000 people in Ireland (a further 24,000 abroad) and have a combined turnover of almost €15 billion. Starting from agriculture co-op roots, and the vision of our founding President, Sir Horace Plunkett in 1894, ICOS today has evolved to serve the co-operative sector in seven core categories, namely:

• Multipurpose dairy co-ops
• Livestock sector co-ops
• Store, trade and  wholesale co-ops
• Service-related co-ops
• Community-oriented, culture and leisure co-ops
• Food, fishing and beverage co-ops
• Advisory and education-related co-ops