In this module I record some of the experience relating to our attempts to re-develop co-operative principles in an organised way, as part of 'civil society', and as a means of harnessing the radical political potential of the 60s environment to constructive ends. These attempts were on the whole not successful, and we need to take a hard look at why.

The background consists of several parts. Politically we had the idea that co-operative enterprise would help to turn the economy around, as well as giving people experience of how to build a democratic organisation. This in the republican movement was an ideological conviction, based perhaps on our reading of Connolly's Labour in Irish History with its Ralahine chapter, and a feeling that the first wave of co-operation of the 1890s and 1900s had stalled and needed regeneration.

Tony Meade, a leading member of the movement, and later Editor of the United Irishman, had worked with Gael Linn and observed how it was possible to raise money for various Irish Language projects with the aid of a periodic lottery. In Gael Linn he had encountered an enthusiast who had been a successful organiser of weekly lotteries in the Gael Linn context. The latter however fell out with Donal O Morain, the Chief, and was seeking to set up a break-away lottery, servicing a suitable worthy cause, and between him and Meade the Comhar Linn project emerged, targeted at co-operative development. Meade in 1965 sold the idea to Cathal Goulding, and between us we set up the Irish Co-operative Development Trust, and raised some capital from supporters of the concept.

The project was an unmitigated disaster. The market at the time was saturated with lotteries for this and that, and the enthusiast's magic which had worked satisfactorily for Gael Linn when it was a pioneering venture, no longer worked with a jaded public in an over-serviced market. There was far too much explaining to do. We were trying to fill a gap left by the traditional co-operative movement, without the necessary organic links. There was a wide philosophical gap between the lottery principle (individuals winning a prize) and the co-operative principle (people getting together and pooling resources to achieve a socio-economic objective).

After a time our leading enthusiast left, and the project limped on for a while, in the form of the 'Co-operative Fellowship' which recruited paying members to a support system, projected to be serviced by periodic seminars. The receipt for registration payment was in the form of a membership card. We picked up a few other active enthusiasts who supported the revised programme, and we did gain some members, but we were unable to service them effectively. The initial capital had long since been burned up, with unduly early expenditure on management overheads, incurred in the first flush of false confidence, based on what we thought was the Gael Linn success story.

Overall the Co-operative Development Trust was a chastening experience, and I regret having put so much effort into it. I suppose it can count as a learning experience, giving some insights into some negative aspects of Irish business culture. As a contribution to the required regeneration of the co-operative principle in Irish business, it was negligible. The effective regeneration of the co-operative movement, in a mode fit to resist effectively the incursions of international capital, remains on the agenda. There are perhaps hints that this process may begin to take place via the black economy, local currencies and credit accounting networks, but this is another day's work.

Some navigational notes:

Copyright Dr Roy Johnston 1999