The Reputations Agency has revealed Credit Unions as Ireland’s most reputable organisation with the publication of the Ireland Reputation Index 2026. Based on the views of over 5,000 people, and carried out over Jan – Mar. 2026, the index provides a snapshot of the reputation strength of 100 of Ireland’s most important organisations.
The rankings for the top three companies in the index are incredibly close with the Credit Unions achieving an Excellent reputation score of 81.7, followed by the IRFU at 80 and An Post just behind the IRFU with a score of 79.8.
The Index also shows significant changes to the rankings, with four new entrants to the top ten. Rankings from 4th -10th, in that order, were: Bon Secours Hospital, Aldi, Toyota, St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Samsung, Aer Lingus and Fáilte Ireland.
Boots remains the highest-ranked pharmacy in the index. In professional services, Grant Thornton has increased its standing this year and ranks in the top one-third of all organisations with a reputation score of 72.6 and a 32nd place ranking. A number of insurance companies are tightly clustered together with Aviva achieving a score of 72, closely followed by Irish Life at 71.9 and Zurich at 71.4.
In banking, the average reputation score for banks now exceeds the average score for all organisations in the index.
‘EXCELLENCE’ REPUTATION
This year’s winners, the Credit Unions topped the annual ranking for the fourth consecutive year with an Excellent reputation score of 81.7. The organisation also ranked first in the most important driver of reputation in Ireland, namely conduct, in addition to taking first place when the public were asked if they would ‘give them the benefit of the doubt in a crisis’ and ‘Trust them to do the right thing.’
Credit Unions were perceived to be the most fair, friendly, genuine and sincere organisation among the 100 studied.
REPUTATIONS GOING FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
In addition to the top-three, this year’s Reputation Index also included noticeable improvements across a wide range of sectors. Airlines and aerospace increase by +4.9 Reputation points, sporting bodies (+3.8), retail (+3.2), communications and media (+2.1) – the Irish Times placed 26th; Mediahuis (formerly Independent News & Media) 66th and Bauer Media Group 79th.
Public services bodies also increased by an average of +1.9 with Fáilte Ireland as one of four new entrants to the top 10 and ranked in 10th place. Other public sector bodies with a mission to support Ireland also scored well with the IDA in 16th, Enterprise Ireland in 21st and Tourism Ireland in 23rd.
The three biggest risers this year were RTÉ, Ryanair and FAI, with RTÉ recording an increase of 10.7 points. The Index also indicates that consumers are rewarding trusted outlets for their news source with major news publishers in the study recording a rise in reputation strength.
In what was a turbulent year for the tech sector X ranked in 100th place and Meta in 99th. X was also the only organisation which achieved the lowest reputational tier of Poor (0–39).
The average reputation scores across all 100 organisations included in the Ireland Reputation Index increased by 1.1 points compared to last year, with the average now at 69.8, just below the threshold for a strong reputation score of 70.0. This marks the highest average reputation score recorded since COVID, when many organisations experienced a significant reputational uplift. Of the 16 sectors measured in the study, five recorded significant improvements year-on-year.
Now in its 17th year, the Index is managed by The Reputations Agency, who are exclusive partners to The RepTrak Company.
