A co-operative is often perceived, when discussed in business circles, to be a soft form of enterprise associated with community-related activity and not-for-profit organisations. Not so in Ireland.  Co-ops in Ireland are edgier and more commercial, largely because they account for a large swathe of the agri-food industry and in particular dairy processing and farm inputs. The roots of that commerciality stretch back all the way to 1889 when the first dairy co-op was established by Horace Plunkett in Doneraile, Co Cork.  Plunkett was the pioneer behind the Irish co-op movement. His instincts understood the harsh world of business and…

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