Irish Museums Association

What Irish Museums Association does

The Irish Museums Association (IMA) is a non-profit professional membership association and the all-island network for the museum community across Ireland and Northern Ireland. It serves institutional museum members, individual museum professionals, and associate members through a portfolio of services including training, professional development, annual conferences, forums, workshops, publications, and sectoral standards and guidelines (including support for the Museum Standards Programme for Ireland). The IMA also operates the Shared Island GLAM Programme in partnership with the Heritage Council, a five-year cross-border initiative supporting collaborative projects between galleries, libraries, archives, and museums.

The IMA is structured as a registered limited company (Company Number 387027) governed by a voluntary Board of Directors, with a lean team of 6 employees based at Quays Gate, Collins Barracks, Dublin. Its revenue model is primarily subscription-based, generated through institutional and individual membership fees, supplemented by event registration income and programme delivery funding. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, though event rates suggest member discounts (e.g., €30/£26 vs. €45/£39 for non-members). The association markets through its website (irishmuseums.org), email newsletters via Mailchimp, LinkedIn, Facebook, and in-person events. It does not develop proprietary technology platforms; its digital assets are limited to a content website, an interactive Irish Museums Map, and a job board.

The IMA's strategic positioning centers on being the unified voice and convening body for the Irish museum sector, with cross-border collaboration as a differentiator. Key partnerships include the Heritage Council (Shared Island GLAM Programme), NI Museums Council (NIMC), Irish Museums Trust (IMT), Ulster University, Business to Arts, NEMO, and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The organization is operating and actively maintained as of 2026, with ongoing events, news, and a call for session proposals for the 2027 Annual Conference.

Name

Irish Museums Association

Legal name

Irish Museums Association

Website

https://irishmuseums.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Irish Museums Association is a non-profit professional membership association serving as the all-island network for museums and museum professionals across Ireland and Northern Ireland, delivering training, conferences, publications, standards, and cross-border collaboration programmes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Museum Professional Association Services

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cultural Festivals & Events Organizations (BPAGAHAG)

Keywords

• Museum professional association
• Membership association services
• Museum sector training
• Cultural heritage advocacy
• Professional development programmes

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: The IMA generates revenue through membership subscriptions from institutional museum members and individual museum professionals. Membership categories include Individual, Institutional Museum, and Associate members, with benefits including subsidised rates for events and training.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Irish Museums Association is a non-profit professional membership association that operates as the all-island network for the Irish museum community. It sells Individual, Institutional Museum, and Associate memberships and delivers supporting services including an annual conference, CPD-certified training and workshops, the Shared Island GLAM Programme, sectoral publications (including the Museum Ireland journal), the Irish Museums Map, ReMuse, standards and guidelines aligned with the Museum Standards Programme for Ireland (MSPI), a museum vacancies job board, and advocacy on behalf of the sector.

Product overview

The Irish Museums Association is a non-profit professional organization that serves as the all-island network for the Irish museum community. Rather than offering a unified technology product, the IMA provides a portfolio of membership-based services including professional development (training, conferences, workshops), sectoral resources (publications, standards, the Irish Museums Map, ReMuse), and the Shared Island GLAM Programme. The organization also operates a news and vacancy communications platform, and coordinates collaborative initiatives such as the annual IMA Conference and various forums for education, collections, and networking.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• IMA Membership Annual subscription membership programme for the Irish museum community, offered in Individual, Institutional Museum, and Associate categories. Provides access to a network of museums and museum professionals across Ireland and Northern Ireland, with benefits including subsidised rates for events and training, access to sectoral resources, and eligibility for IMA programmes.
• IMA Annual Conference Annual paid professional conference rotating across Ireland, bringing together museum professionals for networking, knowledge exchange, and sector development. Member and non-member registration rates apply (e.g., IMA 2026 Autumn Forum €30/£26 members vs €45/£39 general).
• Professional Development and Training Paid CPD-certified training programmes, workshops, webinars, and seminars for museum staff covering topics such as cultural venue protection, conservation, biodiversity, collections care, and leadership. Delivered both online and in-person across Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Heritage CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 July 2026The Heritage Council leads the Shared Island GLAM Programme, a five-year all-island initiative. The IMA serves as the delivery partner for this programme, which supports collaborative projects between GLAM organisations in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The first funding round offers €10,000–€15,000 per project for up to four collaborative projects.
• NI Museums Council (NIMC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNIMC collaborates with the IMA on cross-border initiatives including the annual Education & Outreach Forum, professional development programmes, and the Interpreting Museums cooperation initiative funded by the Department of Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sports and the Gaeltacht.
• Irish Museums Trust (IMT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe IMT and IMA partnership offers annual grants of up to €1,000 each to support five practitioners and researchers in the museum sector in Ireland. The scheme aims to enhance networking and peer-to-peer knowledge exchange.
• Ulster UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration through the Northern Bridge Consortium Collaborative Doctoral Award for the project 'The EU and the museum: an investigation of cross-border museum activity in Ireland.'
• Business to ArtsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Business to Arts and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for the Fundraising Fellowship, Ireland programme, offering up to €15,000 per annum for 24 months to part-subsidise fundraising staff.
• Department of Culture, Heritage and the GaeltachtcoreOthersGovernment department that provides policy direction, funding support, and partnership on national cultural initiatives including the Decade of Centenaries programme and Culture 2025 policy framework.
• Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean network through which the IMA accesses sector research, surveys on museum operations and COVID-19 impact, and professional development resources.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/irish-museums-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Irish Museums Association