Drombane Co-op CEO Michael Bourke recalls Drombane’s past, but is looking to the future

Like a sports team every good business needs to be managed well to ensure it survives and thrives. In the heartlands of Tipperary, Drombane Co Op is thriving and is celebrating their 125th year of business this Saturday. The CEO in Drombane is Michael Bourke he explains the background to their big day this Saturday:

“Last year was our 125th anniversary and I suppose with the end of Covid we decided to postpone the celebrations until this year and we have it organised now for Saturday. Tying in with that, we revamped our hardware store and put in a small grocery unit as well. We have a family fun day so it should be great entertainment,” he says.

It is fair to say that the Co-Op has become a hub in Drombane as a social meeting point and a business. Michael says it has become a focal point in the parish: “I suppose it is the only business in the Drombane end of the parish and our aim is to survive and serve our customers well. We are competitive with prices which can be difficult at times with fluctuating markets and our aim always is to provide a good service.

“We would have a customer base locally and from neighbouring parishes. We have close links with Tipperary Co-Op, too,” he says. For Michael Bourke, who lives just over the road, the co-op is simply a way of life: “I started here in Drombane on October 12, 1995. I came into the shop as an assistant at first and I finished up where I am now. Touch wood, it has been going well since.

“It has expanded over the years and the milk pool has got bigger as well. We have expanded our milk supply and a few new suppliers over the years as well so things are going pretty well for us,” says Michael.

It is a reflection of Ireland generally that there are less supplying milk, but those that do are bigger farmers with larger herds. Michael says that is the case: “There are less farmers but they are producing more milk. We know that a lot of people are knocking the farmers and saying they are producing too much, but if the farmers don’t produce the food to feed the people who is going to produce it.

“Most of our staff are local and live in the parish. Everybody’s wages goes into the local community and the milk cheques go to the local community as well so it is difficult to survive in some ways but we are doing the best we can. In the wider area there is Arrabawn, Tipperary, Centenary and Drombane. Just four now and Mullinahone in the south of Tipperary. I suppose we are one of the oldest in the country.”

Looking back on the history of the business, the role and range of services changed with the times. Michael says that this is the key to survival: “When they started out here they were taking in milk, they were processing milk they were making butter and so on back along the years. As things progressed, things changed. We started selling our milk a long number of years ago to Tipperary Co-Op. We are in a contract for fifteen years there so that secures the future for our farmers and their milk.”

Michael, who served as county board chair in Tipperary, is currently involved in the backroom team for the Tipperary hurlers. He has had a lifelong involvement in the GAA: “I became secretary of Upperchurch Drombane when I was 19 years of age and I suppose I have been involved in the GAA since right up along through my club, divisional board, county board and am now am involved as well with the Munster Council as chairman of the Hearings Committee.

“Currently John Smith and I are doing the logistics for Liam Cahill. We just make sure everything is organised and it probably takes some bureaucracy away from Liam so that he can concentrate on other things. Basically the whole backroom team works together to ensure everything works smoothly.

“It is a very good set up currently. Overall progress that has been made. Even a few months ago if someone said that Tipperary would finish up the third team in Munster people would have been thrilled so we have done that and now we are on the road to Tullamore,” the Tipperary senior hurling logistics manager says.

Overall the Drombane native has seen many great days within sport: “A highlight over the years would have been winning the All-Ireland in Croke Park when I was county chairman in 2016 with a parishioner managing the side (Mick Ryan) and a parishioner at full back (James Barry). That day also, Liam Cahill managed the winning minor team.

“Another highlight was the day we honoured Fr Alex Reid up in Belfast in 2017 for his commitment to the GAA and helping people in his community. That was a fabulous day.”

He has seen a lot of change, too, in his day to day role in Drombane: “There have been a couple of changes on the committee. Unfortunately in the last month we lost one of our committee members, John O’Dwyer of Clareen. He passed away after a very short illness. It was a huge shock to the co-op and particularly to his family. John was only sick a couple of weeks and only missed one meeting. It was very sad.

“Other than that the last man to die in service of the committee was Seamus Hayes of Gortahoola. Drombane Co Op is no different to any in Ireland as people who go into Co Ops at a young age see their time out there.

“We have people that retired here who served for 50 years. The whole thing is always changing, though. We keep going. We built a feed mill and we are supplying our own customers. We have the shop now and you simply have to move with the times,” says Michael.