After some further inquiries had been made, the board as a whole gave further consideration to the question at a special meeting which was held on 27th November 1917. At this meeting it was stated that in and around Dublin there were ten societies within a radius of twenty miles, whose capital amounted in the aggregate to about £3,000. Dublin Society were willing to dispose of their bakery for £2,000. Only a meagre response had been given, however, to inquiries as to the amount of trade which was likely to be obtained from these ten societies, but the opinion was expressed that if the branch was once established the trade would be sure to come in time. Reference was made at this meeting to the lethargic state of the Co-operators of the district, and to the need which existed to give the movement a lift out of the weak state into which it had fallen. All the members of the committee who had visited the district were impressed with the fact that a good field for Co-operative work existed, provided that good management was given. The committee expressed agreement that, given normal conditions, there were reasonable prospects of the success of a branch established at Dublin, but they were divided on the question of whether the purchase should be made at that time, and remitted the decision on that point to the whole board. With respect to the proposal to establish a branch at Enniskillen, the members who had visited the district were in agreement. There was in the district a nucleus sufficient to warrant placing a branch there, but no bakery was available, although a building capable of being made into a bakery could be purchased. The restrictions placed on the use of building material and on the supplying of machinery placed an embargo on going ahead at the moment, however, and they must wait until the war was over.