Who We Are
The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) is a unifying force for the Irish co-operative movement.
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 is the umbrella organisation for the co-operative movement in Ireland – including dairy processing co-operatives and livestock marts – whose associated businesses have a combined turnover in the region of €16 billion, with some 175,000 individual members, employing 12,000 people in Ireland, and a further 24,000 people overseas. In total, there are some 1,000 co-ops in Ireland, and the largest 100 organisations employ approximately 40,000 people.
ICOS promotes the co-operative model as a means of enhancing the competitiveness, sustainability, and profitability of its members in the agri-food sector.
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
