What is a co-operative?

Co-operatives are people-centred enterprises owned, controlled and run by and for their members. Here is what that means, the principles every co-operative shares, and the many forms they take.

What is a co-op?

Co-operatives are people-centred enterprises owned, controlled and run by and for their members to realise their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations.
The internationally agreed definition, set out by the International Co-operative Alliance in its Statement on the Co-operative Identity, puts it this way:
An autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise.
International Co-operative Alliance

Co-operatives bring people together in a democratic and equal way. Whether the members are the customers, employees, users or residents, co-operatives are democratically managed by the ‘one member, one vote’ rule. Members share equal voting rights regardless of the amount of capital they put into the enterprise.

As businesses driven by values, not just profit, co-operatives share internationally agreed principles and act together to build a better world through co-operation. Putting fairness, equality and social justice at the heart of the enterprise, co-operatives around the world are allowing people to work together to create sustainable enterprises that generate long-term jobs and prosperity.

Co-operatives allow people to take control of their economic future and, because they are not owned by external shareholders, the economic and social benefits of their activity stay in the communities where they are established. Profits generated are either reinvested in the enterprise or returned to the members.

What makes a co-operative different?

Co-operatives operate across the same markets, sectors and regulations as any other business. The difference lies in who owns them, who governs them, and in whose interests they operate.

Owned by their members

Co-operatives are owned by the people who use and depend on them, not by outside investors.

Democratic by design

Co-operatives are governed by their members on equal terms: one member, one vote, regardless of financial contribution. Membership is open and voluntary.

Driven by purpose

Co-operatives exist to serve the shared needs of their members and communities. Financial performance matters, because it sustains the enterprise, but it is the means, not the end.

These qualities place co-operatives within a wider family of inclusive and democratic enterprises built on the same foundations, including mutuals, employee ownership trusts and community land trusts.

Between the market and the State

Co-operatives are easiest to place when you look at the wider economy. On one side are private businesses, owned by investors and run to make a profit. On the other is the public sector, owned by the State and run for everyone. Between the two sits the social and solidarity economy: enterprises and organisations owned by and run for the people they serve, not for outside investors. Co-operatives are at its heart, alongside mutuals, social enterprises, charities, and associations and foundations.
Three parts of the economy: the private economy on the left (investor-owned firms, private partnerships, sole traders), the public economy on the right (schools and universities, local authorities, semi-State bodies), and the social and solidarity economy in the middle, where co-operatives are the central example, defined as purpose-driven, with inclusive membership and democratic control, alongside mutuals, social enterprises, charities, and associations and foundations. Some social enterprises are also co-operatives.

The seven co-operative principles

Every co-operative in the world, in every sector and every country, shares the same seven principles. Agreed internationally through the International Co-operative Alliance, they are the guidelines by which co-operatives put their values into practice.
1. Voluntary and open membership
Co-operatives are open to all who can use their services and are willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without discrimination.
2. Democratic member control
Co-operatives are controlled by their members, who set the policies and make the decisions. In a primary co-operative, that means one member, one vote.
3. Member economic participation
Members contribute to, and democratically control, their co-operative’s capital. Surpluses are reinvested, set aside as reserves, or shared among members, as the members decide. Part of the reserves is usually held in common and kept indivisible.
4. Autonomy and independence
Co-operatives are self-help organisations run by their members. Where they work with others or raise outside capital, they do so on terms that keep members in democratic control.
5. Education, training and information
Co-operatives support their members, representatives and staff to play their part, and they help the wider public understand what co-operation offers.
6. Co-operation among co-operatives
Co-operatives strengthen the movement and serve their members best by working together, locally, nationally and internationally.
7. Concern for community
Co-operatives work for the sustainable development of their communities, through policies agreed by their members.
Underpinning the principles are the co-operative values: self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity, along with the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.

What kinds of co-operative are there?

Co-operatives take many forms, but all are defined by who their members are. Any enterprise can be run co-operatively. In Ireland and around the world you will find:

Worker co-operatives

Owned and run by the people who work in them. Employees are the members, sharing in decisions and in the rewards of the business.

Consumer co-operatives

Owned by the customers who use them. Members shape the service and share in the benefits, from retail and wholesale to insurance.

Producer co-operatives

Owned by independent producers, such as farmers or craftspeople, who join together to process, market or sell their goods and gain the strength of scale.

Community co-operatives

Owned by the people of a place and set up to meet a local need, from a village shop or pub to a community facility or amenity.

Housing co-operatives

Owned and controlled by their resident members, who together provide and manage secure, affordable homes.

Credit unions

Financial co-operatives owned by their members, who save and borrow together and share in how the union is run.

Multi-stakeholder co-operatives

Bring more than one kind of member together, for example workers, users and community supporters, sharing ownership and governance of a single enterprise.

Consortium co-operatives

Owned by independent businesses that join together to share services, buying power or marketing, gaining the strength of scale while staying independent.

Inclusive and democratic enterprises

Co-operatives belong to a wider family built on the same democratic, member-owned foundations, including mutuals, employee ownership trusts and community land trusts.

A long tradition, in Ireland and beyond

Co-operation is not a new idea. It is one of the oldest ways people have found to get things done together, and Ireland’s roots in it run deep.

A living tradition

Meitheal

Long before the word ‘co-operative’ existed, Irish rural communities practised meitheal: neighbours joining together to save the harvest, cut the turf or bring in the hay, sharing labour so that everyone’s work got done. It is co-operation in its most basic and enduring form.

1831–1833

Ralahine, County Clare

One of the earliest co-operative experiments anywhere took place at Ralahine, where a farming community ran a shared enterprise, paid its members in ‘labour notes’ and pooled the rewards of its work. It ran for two remarkable years, predating the movement that followed.

1844

The Rochdale Pioneers

In Rochdale, in the north of England, a group of weavers opened a co-operative shop and wrote down the rules they traded by. Those rules became the foundation of the co-operative principles the whole world shares today.

1894

The Irish Agricultural Organisation Society

Sir Horace Plunkett founded the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society in 1894, building the co-operative creameries and societies that shaped modern Irish agriculture. His guiding idea is still quoted: ‘better farming, better business, better living.’

1958

The credit union movement

A Cork-born Dublin teacher, Nora Herlihy was the driving force behind Ireland’s credit union movement, bringing co-operative finance to communities who had been shut out of it. From the first credit unions in the late 1950s, the model spread to become one of the most trusted institutions in Irish life.

1960s

Community water schemes

From 1962, rural communities across Ireland formed voluntary co-operative group water schemes to bring piped water to homes and farms the public network did not reach. Within a decade they had connected most of rural Ireland, and community-owned schemes still supply water today.

1970s

Housing co-operatives

The modern housing co-operative movement took root as communities came together to build and manage their own homes. The National Association of Building Co-operatives, now Co-operative Housing Ireland, was founded in 1973 to support a movement hailed at its height as the ‘third arm’ of Irish housing.

Co-operatives are already all around you

The co-operative model is not a proposal for the future. It is already one of the most successful and trusted ways Irish people own and run enterprises together.

Credit unions

Among the most familiar co-operatives in Ireland, with around 3.6 million members across the island, one of the highest levels of credit union membership per head of population anywhere in the world.

Agricultural and dairy co-operatives

With roots in Plunkett’s movement, these are among Ireland’s largest indigenous businesses and export earners.

Housing co-operatives

Resident-owned and community-led, providing and managing secure, affordable homes, a movement in Ireland since the 1970s.

Community water schemes

Group water schemes owned and run by rural communities, bringing a reliable water supply to areas the public network did not reach.

Energy co-operatives

Communities coming together to own and run renewable energy projects, keeping the benefits of clean, local power in the area.

Community services co-operatives

Member- and community-owned enterprises delivering local services and amenities, from childcare and care to shops, halls and facilities.

And many more

Co-operation runs through Irish life in many other forms too, including retail, café and taxi co-operatives and other member-owned enterprises.

Co-operatives Ireland represents this broad family: worker, consumer, community, producer, housing, credit and multi-stakeholder co-operatives, alongside other inclusive and democratic enterprises.

Co-operation works, and it works at scale

3 million

Co-operatives worldwide

1.2 billion

Members, at least 12% of humanity

3.6 million

Credit union members across the island of Ireland

130+

Years of co-operative enterprise in Ireland
How co-operatives compare

80%+

of new co-operatives are still trading after five years, against under 40% of businesses generally

8–12%

higher productivity in employee-owned businesses, measured by value added per employee

2×

the market-share growth of comparable publicly listed companies, with co-operatives matching them for growth overall
Sources: Co-operatives UK (survival, UK data); Employee Ownership Association and Ownership at Work, 2023 (productivity, UK data); McKinsey on Cooperatives, 2012 (growth and market share).
Why it matters for Ireland. Co-operation is a proven, resilient way of doing business that keeps ownership and the benefits of enterprise in Irish communities. With the right supports and a modern legal framework, the model could do much more, in housing, energy, care, farming and the future of work.

Frequently asked questions

No. A co-operative is a business that trades, employs and serves its customers like any other The difference is that it is owned by its members and run for their benefit rather than for outside shareholders. It can and should generate a surplus; what makes it a co-operative is what it does with that surplus and who decides.

Yes. Co-operatives aim to be financially successful, because that is what sustains them. The surplus is either reinvested in the enterprise or returned to members by their own decision, rather than paid out to external investors.

The members: the people the co-operative exists to serve. Depending on the type, that is its workers, customers, producers, residents or wider community. Members own and govern the co-operative together, on the basis of one member, one vote.

Yes. Credit unions are financial co-operatives, owned and democratically controlled by their members. They are one of the most familiar and long-established forms of co-operative in Ireland.

An investor-owned company is controlled by shareholders in proportion to the capital they hold, and exists primarily to deliver them a return. A co-operative is controlled by its members on equal terms and exists to meet their shared needs. Ownership sits with the people closest to the enterprise, so the benefits of its activity tend to stay in the community.

Ireland has never had dedicated legislation for co-operative societies. For over 130 years, co-operatives have operated under the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts, legislation that predates the foundation of the State and was never designed with co-operatives in mind. That is set to change. The Co-operative Societies Bill, now at the final stage of drafting, is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to place the co-operative model on a level footing with companies: for the first time, co-operatives would be defined and governed by legislation written specifically for them. Follow our campaign on the Co-operative Societies Bill 2026 page.

There is no single route, but there is plenty of good guidance. Our Resources & Guides page brings together the most useful tools for understanding, starting and running a co-operative, drawn from across the movement, with Irish sources noted where they exist.

Whether you are a co-operative, a community enterprise or an individual who believes in a more inclusive and democratic economy, there is a place for you. Become a member, there is no membership fee during our founding phase.

Make the future co-operative.

Co-operatives put ownership in the hands of the people they serve. If you want to help grow the movement in Ireland, we would love to hear from you.
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