A legal status for Irish social enterprise-an overlooked opportunity?

Abstract This paper argues that a dedicated legal status for Irish social enterprises - or the wider social economy - holds to date a mostly overlooked potential to increase clarity of what social enterprises are and for social enterprises themselves on governance. A legal status takes an agnostic approach towards the enterprise’s legal form while offering certain incentives and privileges for those that meet the criteria. A review of recent trends across Europe points towards a legal status being the preferred approach in more recent years, with country reports pointing towards lessons learnt in terms of aiming to capture and support the sector holistically. This paper concludes that while promising as a concept, further research is needed to validate the potential in the Irish context.