Comments on IRISH CREDIT UNIONS VOICES FOR THE FUTURE: The tyranny of the dominant director

Why indeed is the Supervisers Forum funded by the ...

2008-04-18T00:31:00.000+01:00

Why indeed is the Supervisers Forum funded by the ILCU. It should be possible for this important group to self-fund through credit union subscription. Many question the role of supervisers and suggest it should evolve into well designed internal audit function.

a seabhac. Your point is well made but is it not the case that leadership must start at credit union board level and this is precisely where it is lacking the most ?
A national common bond would require a federalist type structure which is beyond the capacity of the vast majority of credit unionists to comprehend.They have a proven, inbred inability to collaborate beyond the common bond. Yet if just a small number were to evolve into a large coalition then it might be possible to modernise. The ILCU system can't lead and CUDA is a spent penny - any signs of new thinking and action emerging?

Why is the National Supervisors Forum accepting fu...

2008-04-17T11:54:00.000+01:00

Why is the National Supervisors Forum accepting funding from the ILCU?

You have compromised your independence.

The Investment crisis in credit unions is a mere s...

2008-04-17T11:52:00.000+01:00

The Investment crisis in credit unions is a mere symptom of an underlying crisis that few recognise and an even lesser number acknowledge. Excess savings grew up in credit unions through a combination of factors:- credit union leaderships, voluntary and professional alike, were unable to react to critical lending market changes; the over-simplistic, one-size-fits-all approach of analysts, and their attendant ratios, including the unsophisticated measurement of arrears, meant that the investment of savings, as opposed to diversification into lower rate loan products, became very attractive;the essentially local and parochial nature of credit union leaderships meant that they fixated upon their own little patch, and depended over-much on the representative associations for advice and guidance - areas that the ILCU in particular has neither expertise nor business acumen in;local boards totally neglected their duty of care to members money, and plunged headlong into investments they know little or nothing about. That 148 Credit unions invested in perpetual bonds, and clearly didn't read the small print where it existed, is a testimony to how unfit these directors, supervisors and managers are to their positions. That an even greater number of nearly 400 credit unions in the Republic invested in the ILCU led CTMF, WHICH CLEARLY POINTED OUT THE RISK OF LOSS, is an even greater indictment of the Boards and their managements. And that they continue to risk their members' money by an over-concentration of resources in this fund shows how impaired the Irish Credit Union system is.

New forms of collaboration leading to innovation and creativity will only take place if two or three or four credit unions are willing to act on their convictions, concentrate on the business of serving members, forget the family feuds and the irrelevancy that is too often seen at ILCU and Chapter conferences, and get on with the business of delivering the service levels that people need. To do this, we must stop thinking as locals only, and believing that a national leadership will magically show the way.... Who's on for a National Common Bond with local offices?

A Seabhac

Here is an excerpt from the National Supervisers F...

2008-04-15T00:21:00.000+01:00

Here is an excerpt from the National Supervisers Forum AGM 2006:

"Be advised……the Dominant Person is alive and well and still active in many credit unions. At our annual conference in Bundoran last year, the Registrar of Credit Unions, Mr. Brendan Logue, highlighted this issue in his address to the meeting. In my opinion, if the credit union movement as a whole is to make this kind of progress and advancement which will be necessary for it to survive and flourish in the long term, then fundamental changes have to be made in the manner in which Boards of Directors and Supervisory Committees are elected.

There is ample evidence again this year that documentation and information concerning this AGM were withheld from or not passed on to several supervisory committees. This practice is not acceptable and must stop. Supervisors must not be denied their legal right to access all credit union documents and information systems."

Much as I hate to say it - you are right. When I t...

2008-04-13T23:42:00.000+01:00

Much as I hate to say it - you are right. When I think of the Limrerick AGM and all the people who will be there paying for their meals using bank credit and laser cards,chatting about their foreign holiday homes financed by bank mortgages and then doing sweet nothing about providing better services to their members - well it just stinks of a happy clappy lot who are more interested in as you say looking good than doing good. When its all over most of them will be booking their tickets for their next jolly to Hong Kong, all paid for by their credit union.

Mary