Protecting the most vulnerable in an economic crisis: a participatory study of civil society organisations in Ireland

This paper advances knowledge of how civil society organisations (CSOs) negotiate the shift from boom-time public expenditure to governmental austerity. The study focuses on the Republic of Ireland, where CSOs occupied an important role in providing a voice for vulnerable citizens in corporatism for over a decade. The global financial crisis and subsequent austerity measures caused the countrys model of corporatist-style social partnership to collapse. The article connects CSOs adaptation to austerity measures when protecting the people behind the cuts to broader questions about co-optation of civil society through state-led policymaking institutions.