Ninety credit union staff and stakeholders from Ireland and Britain gathered in Dublin yesterday (21st May) to focus on a core mission of credit unions – meeting members’ borrowing needs. This is a critical topic for credit unions, especially given the economic importance of lending to credit union sustainability. CFCFE member practitioners from both sides of the Irish Sea with positive recent experiences of innovation and hard work shared their stories, with actionable takeaways for the audience. We had an ‘outsider’s insider view’ from Pádraig Enright, CEO of Clonmel Credit Union to kick off the day, together with contributions from six other senior leaders: Karen Bennett (Enterprise Credit Union), Catherine Byrne (Health Services Staffs Credit Union), Michael Byrne (Core Credit Union), Dave McAuley (Donore Credit Union, which Dave may just have mentioned was the first credit union in Ireland …), Teresa Manning (Clockwise Credit Union) and Richard Munro (Commsave Credit Union). We were also delighted to hear from John Meagher, from the Central Bank of Ireland‘s Credit Union Business Model and Engagement team, to provide a regulatory perspective, in particular on risk.
A report of the event will be available shortly, which will include the results of a survey undertaken on the day on barriers and opportunities in lending. In the meantime, the credit union presentations can be found here, and John Meagher’s here.
Many thanks to all our attendees for their participation, and to our speakers for sharing. Now planning for the next one …
