About

Sinead Gillen, general counsel since 2011, leads the legal department at Dairgold Co-Operative Society. Founded in 1990 from the merging of Mitchelstown and Ballyclough cooperatives, Dairygold is the largest farming cooperative in Ireland and is entirely farmer-owned by its 7,000 shareholder members. Producers of award-winning cheeses and dairy products Dairgold is investing in research, innovation and facilities to produce nutrient rich products for infants, childhood and adult nutritional needs. The cooperative is also adapting to the abolishment of the EU milk quota system in 2015 and the reaction on the dairy industry in Ireland. In July 2018, Dairygold announced a €10 per tonne rebate on all “compound ruminant feeds” until the end of September to help alleviate the grass shortage across Ireland after this summer’s draught and the extreme winter weather earlier in the year. It also announced interest free credit to all members on feed and fertilizer purchases in the month of July. Gillen’s legal team helps facilitate these type of measures in these unusual circumstances as well as look after the rest of the legal affairs of the cooperative including its governance and membership matters.