The State of the Unions, part of the National College of Ireland's Changing World of Work series, is a comprehensive study of the position of unions and union decline in Ireland today. Written by some of Ireland's leading academics and industrial relations specialists, it is aimed at both the student and practitioner market and aspires to further the debate on the state of unionisation in the Republic. This publication follows a major conference held in early spring 2008 at the National College of Ireland entitled Unions in the Twenty-First Century: Retreat or Renewal?The contributors to this volume explore some of the major concepts and frameworks used to explain the purpose and function of unions, and specifically the cycle of union decline, and outline the prospects for growth. Taken together the chapters in this volume offer unique and up-to-date insights, many of them evidence-based, on the position of unions in Ireland and the major challenges they face both institutionally and in terms of organisation and ethos.The contributors to the book are Daryl D'Art (University of Limerick), David Begg (Irish Congress of Trade Unions), Kate Bronfenbrenner (Labor Education Research, Cornell University), Emer Gilvarry (Mason Hayes+Curran law firm), Patrick Gunnigle (University of Limerick), Tim Hastings (National College of Ireland), Jonathan Lavelle (University of Limerick), Brendan MacPartlin SJ (National College of Ireland), Anthony McDonnell (University of Limerick), Ruairi Quinn (former leader of the Irish Labour Party), W. K. Roche (University College Dublin), Brian Sheehan (Industrial Relations News) and Tom Turner (University of Limerick).