Enniscorthy Credit Union

WHILE it has the image of a large financial institution and is operated in a professional manner providing a vast array of financial services, behind that image is still the simple financial co-operative set up by a group of farsighted citizens of Enniscorthy in 1964.

The group involved were concerned about the amount of usury (moneylending at enormous interest rates) in the area at that time and having heard about this relatively new movement in Ireland called the Credit Union they thought it something worth promoting that might benefit the people of Enniscorthy.

The success of the credit union and its significance in the community over the intervening 50 years has proven those pioneering citizens right.

One of the cornerstones on which the credit union is built are a set of ten operating principles including Open & Voluntary membership, Return of Surplus to Members, Service to Members etc. One of the lesser known of these principles is Social Responsibility.

The principle of Social Responsibility sets out that the credit union should continue the beliefs of the co-operative pioneers to seek to bring about human and social development. Their vision of social justice extends both to the individual members and to the larger community in which they work and reside.

Every person is either a member or a potential member and appropriately part of the credit union sphere of interest and concern.

For the most part social responsibility within the credit union is seen and exercised through financial inclusion or maybe countering financial exclusion, and financial capability support. Providing suitable products and services such as small loans and low balance savings encourages thriftiness in the community.

However, one of the more visible ways by which the credit