Horace Plunkett, Cooperation & Politics

By Trevor West

Horace Plunkett is remembered for his efforts to transform Irish agricultural practice, through the Co-operative Movement which he founded in 1889, and its administration via the Department of Agriculture, which he established ten years later. From a protestant ascendancy background, Plunkett was one of those 'fenian unionists' who were always able to see both sides of the Irish Question, and whose reforming zeal, and frank expression of opinion, during the period in which Ireland moved from benevolent Tory rule by Westminster, to independence for the south and partition of the island, brought him into conflict with all shades of political opinion. This biography traces the development and interplay of his social and political philosophies, establishing Plunkett as the pioneer of modernisation of Ireland's principal industry, and as a political figure whose ideals and experience are of abiding interest.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0861402359
• ISBN13: 9780861402359
• Release Date: June 1986
• Publisher: Colin Smythe
• Length: 288 Pages