Tributes paid as well-known entrepreneur passes away
Michael Lafferty RIP.
Entrepreneur and publisher Michael Lafferty, founder and chairman of Lafferty Group and Retail Banking Institute, has died at the age of 73 following a short illness in London.
Mr Lafferty was born in 1950 into a large family in the townland of Kilvaloon near Ballaghaderreen.
Over a career spanning more than 50 years, he became a world authority on retail banking and payments.
After qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1972, he became a Fellow of Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
He joined the Financial Times in 1975, where he worked for six years as banking correspondent.
Seeing that the growing field of retail banking was not being covered well by the media, he created his own publishing business in 1981 to launch the Retail Banker International newsletter.
In the following years, the business grew and expanded globally, opening offices in New York, Dublin, Washington DC, and Singapore. His success was acknowledged at the highest levels in 1988 when he received The Queen's Award for Enterprise.
Michael’s dream to establish the headquarters of the business in his native country was realised in 2014 when he set up an office in Westport, which is now home to Retail Banking Institute and Lafferty Group.
There have been many tributes expressed from figures in the banking world.
"I'm privileged to have worked closely with Michael, who was a visionary and a great friend and colleague for almost 10 years," said Caroline Hastings, chief executive of Lafferty Group.
"My deepest sympathies are with his family. We will all miss him. We are proud to continue the work he started and we're committed to continue his mission to deliver excellence in retail banking education and research to every part of the world for our members and clients."
"It was an exciting ten years working and travelling with Michael," said Ronan Lynch, director of Retail Banking Institute.
"He loved the idea of 'real banking for real people' and was a great believer in the power of knowledge and education. His ambition was to bring professional standards and qualifications to banking, and the thousands of people trained by Lafferty Group and Retail Banking Institute are testament to his success."
"Michael was a unique person and professional," said Carlos Wanderley, banker and faculty member at Retail Banking Institute.
"He was full of ideas, dreams, values, and ideals. I had the privilege to meet him while in London and since then I have been sharing ideas and projects with him as an active supporter of the Lafferty Group and more recently, as a faculty member of the RBI. His legacy will continue."
"Michael Lafferty is one of the very unique iconic people that had a lifelong mission to serve the community of bankers and economists," said Dr Essam El Mallakh of Retail Banking Institute.
"I knew him for more than 30 years and became part of his institution where he was a creative, courage, hard worker, more on the giving side than the taking side."
Sadly missed and remembered with love by his children Catherine and Isabella, their mother, Luisa, his grandchildren Anastasia, David and Charles, brothers and sisters Martin, Peter, Thomas, Margaret, Francis, Catherine and Paul and their partners, his nieces, nephews, cousins, relatives, neighbours and friends.
His funeral arrangements are not yet available.
