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IT'S been hailed on the world stage as a "powerhouse of social enterprise" and Killarney Credit Union can take a well-deserved bow after it received three international awards for excellence.

The accolades were presented by the International Credit Union Leadership Development and Education Foundation at an awards ceremony in Bloomsbury, London, on Saturday.

Killarney was the category winners in the Edward Filene Credit Union Awards for Excellence – Great Britain and Ireland. It was the outright winner in the category “Engaging in community outreach and mobilisation” and in the category “Serving as a financial incubator for seed, small and medium sized businesses”. Not only that, it was the runner-up in the category “Use of the Media”.

Pat Delaney, chairman of Killarney Credit Union, said: “We are honoured to be recognised for our efforts as a credit union by a panel of international business and credit union experts. The adjudication process was comprehensive in nature and it is wonderful to be recognised for credit union excellence in both the UK and Ireland.”

Previous winners of the Edward Filene Awards were Glenamaddy Credit Union in Galway, but there has been no other Irish credit union winner since 2011. In attendance were representatives from credit unions throughout the world.

The guest of honour and keynote speaker was Marlene Shiels, OBE, FCIBS (Hon), I-CUDE, chief executive officer of Capital Credit Union Ltd, Edinburgh, who has recently been invested with the “Order of the British Empire” (OBE) by Her Majesty the Queen; it is believed she is the first credit unionist to be so honoured.

In presenting the award for Performance Excellence for a Credit Union serving as a financial incubator for seed, small and medium enterprises operated by credit union owner-members, the judge stated: “Killarney Credit Union is a powerhouse of social enterprise and community social and economic empowerment, passionate evangelists for what they do, and so has become the winning credit union for performance excellence in lending to owner-members to develop their businesses.”

Accepting the awards were Pat Delaney, chairman, Killarney Credit Union, Stephen Darmody, financial controller, and Helen Courtney Power, business development officer.
 

 
Above: Helen Courtney Power, Killarney Credit Union, accepting the awards on behalf of Killarney Credit Union in the Edward Filene Credit Union Awards for Excellence – Great Britain and Ireland, from Marlene Shiels, OBE, FCIBS (Hon), I-CUDE, chief executive officer of Capital Credit Union Ltd, Edinburgh.