Board of Directors
Welcome to our Board of Directors page. Meet the visionary leaders driving our organisation’s mission forward with their expertise and guidance.
Board Of Directors Of
St. Canice’s Credit Union
Members elected by members, the Board are volunteers and lead by having a clear sense of where St. Canice’s Credit Union is heading and guides the credit union towards its goals.
For St. Canice’s Credit Union the Board of Directors sets and guides the overall direction of the credit union to ensure its success, as both a viable business, and a socially, environmentally and economically responsible financial co-operative that is aligned with the interests and values of its members, employees and external stakeholders.
Stephen McLaughlin - Chairperson
Dr Stephen McLaughlin is both an engineer and academic by profession. Stephen has spent many years working across both the public and private sectors both here in Ireland and the UK. When he’s not engaged in Credit Union activities he is usually traveling between Ireland, the UK, and mainland Europe providing consultancy services to industry and lecturing services to academia. Stephen was raised in Athlone, but worked for over twenty years abroad. In 2010 Stephen and his family returned to Ireland and settled in Kilkenny.
Avilene Casey – Vice Chairperson
Avilene Casey is a former HSE Director of Nursing and Hon President of Irish Association of Directors of Nursing and Midwifery at HSE. Throughout her career Avilene focused on Leadership and Change Management and brings these skills to her role as Vice Chairperson of the Board.
Padraic Treacy– Secretary
In 2018 Padraic began volunteering with St. Canice’s Credit Union. Elected to the Board in 2020, Padraic was recently appointed Company Secretary.
Brendan Nugent
Brendan brings a career spanning global outsourcing and customer experience (CX), with deep expertise in designing and governing scalable, [customer] member-centric service models. He is recognised as a global thought leader in outsourcing and partner management within CX, and holds a Master’s degree in International Business from South East Technological University (SETU). His experience across complex, regulated environments enables him to drive operational efficiency and service quality while maintaining strong member trust.
This experience will directly benefit St Canice’s Credit Union by supporting sustainable growth, digital transformation, and consistent member experiences across all channels. In addition Brendan sits on the board of Etsy Ireland UC, bringing strong governance and strategic insight. His perspective supports informed board decision-making while preserving the cooperative ethos and community focus of St Canice’s Credit Union.
Kalyan Ram Kusuma
He began his career in the IT sector with multiple organizations before moving to HSE. A lifelong member of the credit union since 2003, he joined as a volunteer in 2008/09 to contribute to the community and the credit union movement.
Since then, he has filled numerous roles, including positions on the IT Committee, Credit Committee, ARC, Nomination Committee, Membership Committee, and Finance Committee. He has also been a board member for the past 10+ years.
Mark Higgins
Mark Higgins is an experienced senior executive with over two decades of leadership across the food, energy, agri-business and manufacturing sectors serving markets in both Ireland the UK and beyond.
He has held senior leadership roles in both listed and private companies, cooperatives, and trade associations, and has a proven track record in delivering results, business transformation, M&A, governance, risk management and strategic growth.
Mark joined as a volunteer in 2021 and was elected to the Board in 2022 and currently sites on the Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee and the Remuneration Committee.
Mark holds a Master’s (MSc) In Management, a Bachelor of Commerce, and a Diploma in Corporate Governance.
Eimear Nic Conmhaic
Léachtóir Cúnta i Roinn na Gaeilge, Coláiste Mhuire gan Smál is ea Eimear Nic Conmhaic. Bronnadh BA sa Bhéarla agus sa Nua-Ghaeilge uirthi sa bhliain 2016, agus bronnadh PhD sa Nua-Ghaeilge uirthi sa bhliain 2020.
Rugadh agus tógadh Eimear i gcathair Chill Chainnigh agus is ball í den Chomhar Creidmheasa ó bhí sí óg. Thosaigh sí ag obair go deonach ann in 2023 agus shuigh sí ar choistí éagsúla ó shin. Tá sí ina suí ar Bhord na Stiúrthóirí ó 2024 i leith.
Vincent Kenrick
Having come to Kilkenny in 1989 Vincent has been resident in the local community for more than 30 years. He has been employed as a Civil Servant since completing the Leaving Certificate and is currently an Assistant Principal with Revenue.
Vincent has been a Volunteer/Director with St. Canice’s Credit Union since 2008 and at various times has held the posts of Treasurer, Secretary, Vice-President and President. He is currently sitting on a number of committees within the organisation.
Board Oversight Committee
The board oversight committee of a credit union shall hold and at least one meeting in every month, and meetings with the board of directors at least 4 times every year to facilitate it in carrying out their assessments. The board oversight committee keep minutes of every meeting held by it.
The board oversight committee must submit, within 2 weeks of any meeting attended, a written report to the board of directors on their assessment of whether the board of directors has operated in accordance with any required regulations. They have access, at all times, to the books and documents (including draft documents) of the credit union to enable it to carry out its functions under the Credit Union Act, 1997 (as amended in 2012). They have the right to attend all meetings of the board of directors and all meetings of committees of the credit union and ensure at least one of its members attends every meeting of the board of directors.
The board oversight committee may notify the Central Bank of Ireland of any concern it has, that the board of directors has not complied with any of their regulatory requirements, following a unanimous vote at a meeting of the committee called for the purpose of considering such a notification.
The board oversight committee report to the members at the annual general meeting and, if it thinks fit, at a special general meeting, on whether the board of directors has operated in accordance with its regulatory requirements.
Richard Dwyer
Richard joined St Canice’s Kilkenny Credit Union as a loan officer in August 1985, after spending 10 years as a clerk with An Post. Over the following 15 years, he gained a Diploma in Credit Union Services from UCC and served as Credit Controller and Assistant Manager until becoming the manager of Bagenalstown Credit Union in January 2001.
He returned to St Canice’s with the merger of the two credit unions in 2019 and served on the management team until his retirement in July 2022. Having spent 37 years working in both credit unions, the ethos of the credit union is very important to him. Following retirement, he became a volunteer and now serves on the Board Oversight Committee.
Tony Walsh
Tony worked in Local Government for most of his career with the last ten years spent as Director of Services with Kilkenny County Council. Prior to that he served as Chief Executive of Kilkenny County Enterprise Board. In the earlier part of his career, he served as Housing Officer with Kilkenny County Council. He has and continues to serve in various capacities on several local and regional community organisations. With his wife Mary he runs a small Free Range Poultry enterprise.