CU President applauds 'big risk' takers

There was a large turnout of people associated with Kilcullen Credit Union from its beginnings at the offical opening of its new building yesterday afternoon by Credit Union League of Ireland President Anne O'Byrne.



The event brought many people back to Kilcullen and to reunion with friends from the past, in a celebration of 34 years of achievement by the cooperative financial organisation.



Fr Andrew O'Sullivan blessed the building, and said it 'greatly enhanced' the town of Kilcullen, and especially the Main Street. He said the people who had made the building a reality 'should be very proud of a fine achievement', and added that the Credit Union ethos embodied the Christian ethic of 'love they neighbour as thyself'.

"This afternoon, let us renew our effort to build a better society, a better community, and one such way is to renew our support of Kilcullen Credit Union, which serves so well our own community," he said.



Pat Goulding expressed a 'belated thank you' to all those who had helped to make Kilcullen Credit Union what it is today. And, in introducing the Chairman he recalled that the first Board and today's were linked down through time. "Lily Barker was a member of the 1971 Board, and her husband Jim is our current Chairman."



In his address, Jim Barker recalled the occasion when the late Brendan Dowling approached John Brady of Club 70 and suggested it might be a good idea to start a Credit Union in Kilcullen.

"Today we have a membership of 1,900 and a share capital of €4.5 million, and a loan book of €3.5 million," he said, noting that the passage from the inaugural days had taken them through a number of premises in the town until they achieved 'our own space'. Eventually, that space became too small, and it was decided to build further on what was a 'prime location' in the town.

"The result is the magnificent building that we are opening today," he said, and expressed his thanks to the architects, builders and other contractors for the work done. He noted a specific gratitude to Vincent O'Halloran, a member of the Credit Union, who carried out the function of Clerk of Works with the organisation's best interests at heart.

Congratulating Anne O'Byrne on becoming the first woman President of the Irish League of credit Unions, he acknowledged that her 'spirit may be elsewhere, in Croke Park' where her native Wexford hurlers were playing today.

And he thanked the living members of the first Board whose vision had led to the formation of Kilcullen credit Union. In so doing he also recalled a special remembrance for the families of those 'dearly departed' - Martin Steed, Jim Corrigan, Mary Conroy, May Connolly and Timmy Lynch.



Prior to cutting the tape and unveiling a plaque to mark the occasion, Anne O'Byrne said it was a day to look back at the people in 1970 'who took a huge risk' in deciding to set up a credit Union in Kilcullen.

"A very big risk, because when you take a risk, you have a risk of failure and a risk of success, and thankfully those very brave people obviously took that risk, and it was a success. We compliment them, and we thank them, for putting Kilcullen Credit Union on the road to what it is today."

Noting that it is a fundamental principle of the Credit Union movement that it should bring dignity to people, she said that getting rid of poverty is not just about putting our hands in our pockets and giving money. "We have to do much more than that - we have to speak as people to make our politicans improve the lot of people suffering in poverty.

"And poverty is not gone away in Ireland - moneylanders are more rampant now in every town and every village in this country, and probably as rampant as they were when the movement was started here in 1958. And I ask the question, is it time that the Credit Unions went back to their roots and see how they can serve those people who, for whatever reason, feel they can't come to their local Credit Union?"

She said the fine new building reflected the trust that the members of Kilcullen Credit Union have in their Board. "But a building is nothing. It is not the building that is Kilcullen Credit Union, it is the people that serve in it - the Board, the supervisors, the committee members, and the staff. And it is all those people working in a cooperative manner, because that is what credit Union is: it is people working in a cooperative manner, both at local level and in Ireland as a whole."

She suggested that the real challenge was in retaining that cooperative ethos, because, unified, 'we can achieve anything in this country.' "Credit Unions will only be relevant as long as they give the service that the members want, and it is the duty and the responsibility of the Board to provide those services."

She concluded by saying she had no doubt that, because of this new building, the membership of Kilcullen credit Union would 'grow from strength to strength'.



Brian Byrne.