We’ve just been awarded the prestigious ‘Guaranteed Irish’ seal of approval, so we sat down with our CEO, Dermot Murray to find out more about why it’s so important.
Congratulations on being awarded the Guaranteed Irish symbol – can you tell us why the Institute received this much sought-after recognition?
Thank you – we’re absolutely delighted to have achieved ‘Guaranteed Irish’ status. At the Institute we pride ourselves on being Irish and it’s a wonderful honour to be recognised with this seal of approval for quality.
We were awarded the symbol as a result of our commitment to providing education programmes of the highest possible standard to our 17,500 members, as well as for our dedication to supporting those working within the insurance industry. Specifically, Guaranteed Irish was impressed with The Insurance Practitioner Apprenticeship’s role in creating local jobs throughout the country, as well as the strides we have made in endorsing and highlighting insurance as a career.
Can you tell us a little about Guaranteed Irish and the symbol?
Of course - Guaranteed Irish has long been an organisation that I’ve admired – it not only helps consumers and businesses across Ireland to identify products and services that are better choices for communities, it sets an extremely high standard for Irish companies. As one of the nation’s most recognisable and enduring symbols, the renowned status is only awarded to organisations that provide quality jobs, support local communities and who are committed to Irish provenance. Since 1974 Guaranteed Irish has been championing businesses in Ireland, and it’s currently supported by 550+ homegrown and international businesses.
What will the membership mean for the Institute and what are you most looking forward to about the partnership?
Well in the first instance just being associated with Guaranteed Irish and being able to display the symbol signifies our commitment to excellence, as well as our dedication to professionalism and quality. While we are a national organisation, our regional footprint and our Local Institutes are our backbone and we’re always striving to ensure we are representative of and connecting with our members, regardless of where they are located. Therefore, being affiliated with such a distinguished organisation, who rewards our regional work is extremely important to us and shows that we’re certainly on the right track.
To celebrate our partnership with Guaranteed Irish, I recently met with the company’s CEO, Brid O’Connell – Brid brought me up to speed on some of the wonderful work she is currently leading – in particular I was impressed with how the organisation supports members through integrated communications campaigns, networking events, business seminars, research and lobbying activities. From our perspective we’ll be most looking forward to getting involved in all of these activities in any way we can, and it will be great to meet with and share ideas with other like-minded organisations.
How do you think the Institute and Guaranteed Irish are aligned in terms of their organisational values?
We are passionate about finding home grown talent, and about tapping into expertise within communities. Our ambition is to make insurance one of the most desirable career choices there is, and we want to find, support and promote talent from all across the country. We also want to provide insurance professionals with the opportunity to learn and work where they live, and we will continue to do all we can to promote local jobs and develop programmes flexible enough to deliver this. Similarly, Guaranteed Irish places a strong focus on regional activity and seeks out organisations who are working with and for communities.
At the Institute we are dedicated to educating and promoting the insurance profession in Ireland. We also prioritise inclusivity and we’re constantly looking for ways in which we can improve diversity within the industry. I believe these organisational values of provenance, diversity and professionalism are strongly aligned with the ethos and the overall objectives of Guaranteed Irish, and therefore it really is a wonderful collaboration for us and one we’re extremely excited about!
