Facilitator, catalyst and regulator? Dublin’s social enterprise ecosystem and the role of municipal government in facilitating social enterprise development in a multi-level policy system

This paper examines the variety of municipal government-social enterprise relationships in Dublin and the multiple roles of Dublin City Council in the city’s social enterprise ecosystem. It situates the analysis of municipal government-social enterprise relationships within the framework of multi-level governance and the role of Dublin City Council as a policy actor in an evolving and relatively fluid policy system. It examines the City Council’s involvement in a number of EU and OECD policy and research initiatives, the formulation and implementation of Ireland’s first national social enterprise policy, the more limited, though significant, role of the regional governance tier in Irish economic and enterprise development policy, and the City Council’s role as a policy maker and policy taker. The research finds that Dublin City Council’s multiple roles have contributed to the development of social enterprise in Dublin. It identifies the importance of institutional, organisational and policy constraints for further development of social enterprise in the city. It shows the strong relevance of the municipality’s governance processes to future innovation and development.