Brendan Jenkins
President, ILCU
Brendan has been involved with Clones Credit Union for 39 years, 11 years as a director and 28 years as Manager/CEO. As a Director, Brendan served on the Credit Committee, Credit Control Committee, Education Committee prior to taking up the role of Credit Union Manager. Brendan was elected President of the ILCU at AGM 2025.
What do you think is the greatest contributions that Credit Unions make
The biggest contribution that credit unions make is the enhancement of the lives of people who live in their community. That’s what they were set up to do in Ireland in the late 1950s and early 1960s, firstly in Dublin with Donore Credit Union, outside Dublin with Clones and in Derry when the late, great John Hume set up the first credit union there.
This remains the focus of credit unions today. Whilst there has been societal and technological evolution, we are still focused on being here for our members, our communities. We are here for them whether it’s to provide a loan in an hour of need or a loan to enable someone to spread their wings further and travel to new places or embark on a new path, our goal is to find a way of saying yes to members so they can live their lives.
As an ILCU Board member what do you hope to achieve during your term?
Well that’s a big question! Firstly, it’s a real honour to be President of the Irish League of Credit Unions. I wanted to do this role because of my belief in the difference that credit unions make to individuals and communities. I want this work to continue in to the future and to do that, in today’s globalised world where our competitors are multi-nationals as well as national, credit unions need to evolve. That means uniting together, not just to solve problems, but also to build a common future, to innovate and strengthen our foundation so we can continue to be essential contributors to communities.
This is a big challenge for the credit union sector. We have many variations but we need to look beyond those and I know after my 39 years at Clones Credit Union, 11 as a Director and then 28 as Manager, that there is so much we can achieve when credit unions work together for the greater good of all our members.
If you were Minister for Credit Unions what one change would you make?
I’d implement measures to strengthen understanding of what credit unions are and what we deliver to our members and their communities. There is so much focus on regulation and legislation – and that’s right and proper – but much of it comes without understanding of the unique nature of the credit union model. I’d like to find a way to bring the voice of credit union members more to the fore of this relationship, ensuring that their perspective is considered. Those of us in credit unions see day in day out the difference we make to members lives – that’s the story I’d like to bring more to life when there is central decision-making taking place. This is something I’d like to achieve in my term now.