Celebrating 15 years as a National Association in 2023
Built on more than 20 years across the Regions

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Click here to download the Assessment of the Economic Value of the Community Enterprise Sector in Ireland pdf

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Community Enterprise Association Ireland CEAI emerged from voluntary, peer-led community enterprise centre regional support networks in the early 1990s, amalgamating as a national association – the National Association of Community Enterprise Centres NACEC – in 2008 and incorporating as NACEC CLG, a company limited by guarantee, in February 2019.

In 2021, the Association undertook a rebranding exercise, and today CEAI provides representation, supports, training and mentoring, learning, independent advice and guidance, thought leadership, and best-in-class insights on an individual basis to boards, management, and key personnel across the community enterprise sector.

CEAI is recognised as a key stakeholder across the National Hub Network, is an active and regular contributor to government policy discussions, and is the respected Voice of Authority for the community enterprise sector and the wider enterprise hub network across Ireland.

Our Commitment

CEAI is committed to developing long-term partnerships based on trust, a willingness to collaborate, and an ambition to succeed.

Through collaboration, advocacy, and strategic partnerships, we  ensure that our Association continues to build on its reputation and
standing as the Voice of Authority for the community enterprise sector in Ireland.

Our Contribution

CEAI  has been a significant stakeholder in and a committed champion of the community enterprise sector for over twenty years now, has operated as a national representative organisation since 2008, and has been a fully incorporated CLG since 2019.

The progression of our Association from seven regional networks in the early noughties to its position today as the Voice of Authority for the sector is testament to the commitment, ambition, and tenacity of a sector that has continued to grow, despite the many
challenges that have arisen over the last two decades.

Our Support

CEAI has a unique role as the Voice of Authority for the community enterprise sector, a conduit between national policy and local practice, and a driver of quality and performance excellence.

The sector is key to the delivery of a wide range of local, regional, and national policies which look to community enterprise centres and enterprise hubs as key contributors to balanced regional development, digitalisation, smart specialisation, and remote working. These policies also give enterprise centres and enterprise hubs key roles in building thriving local, regional, and national economies.

Enterprise centres and enterprise hubs play vital roles in their local communities and in the delivery of strategies designed to drive local, regional, and national economic development.

At a local level, they contribute to economic stability and social cohesion, while, nationally, they offer an enabling environment for the growth and success of both the HPSU and SME sectors.

CEAI is a non-profit Association and we are grateful to those who continue to fund our work, including: