Former co-op chief executive wins award for lifetime of endeavour

THE former chief executive of Arranbawn Co-op Jimmy Murphy is the 2009 winner of the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) Plunkett Award for co-operative endeavour.

ICOS president Pat McLoughlin said Jimmy Murphy has devoted over 48 years of his working life to the betterment of Irish agriculture. While much of this time was devoted to Nenagh Co-op, he also served with distinction on the boards of the Irish Dairy Board, Irish Co-op Society, and the National Dairy Council. “Jimmy played a leading role in developing the Irish dairy industry in the midlands by building creameries in non-traditional dairying areas,” he said.

“He played a key part in negotiating the merger of many small creameries into Nenagh Co-op and was later instrumental in the merger of Nenagh Co-op and Mid-West Co-ops to form Arrabawn.”

Mr McLoughlin said Jimmy Murphy was one of the people who led the development of a modern dairy processing industry in Ireland by the building of a modern efficient plant in Nenagh. “Under his stewardship, the co-operative was successful in winning the Read Cup, Ireland’s premier award for butter-making on many occasions. It also won the 2004 world butter-making championship in Wisconsin,” he said.

Mr McLoughlin said while work has always been very important to him, Jimmy enjoys sports and was a key member of Nenagh Olympic Athletic where he led the development of the first indoor athletic track in Ireland. Jimmy continues to serve his community in a voluntary capacity as a board member of Nenagh Credit Union and he is very active in third-world development projects through his membership of One51 Foundation which supports community-based self- help development programmes that empower people to work their way out of poverty.