Roscrea Credit Union here in Co. Tipperary insists that its member’s money is safe after it recorded losses of €6m, while being forced to put aside €9.3m to cover bad debts.
Roscrea Credit Union insist that savings are guaranteed up to €100,000 for each member under the State’s Deposit Guarantee Scheme, but acknowledged it is seeking financial assistance from the League of Credit Unions.
Accounts for 2009 show that it had been forced to avail of a guarantee of €3m from the league’s savings-protection fund (SPS), latter a bail-out fund for credit unions that are experiencing funding problems.
The League of Credit Unions, said it was working with the board of Roscrea and added that Roscrea was complying fully and working with the regulator.
Members were informed at an annual general meeting earlier this month that no dividend would now be paid for the foreseeable future.
Roscrea Credit Union had assets of €53m last year, down from €55m in 2008.
I heard that it was the treasurer Brendan Wright that got rid of Ray McCarthy! That’s discraceful and it is ONLY McCarthy that would get the Credit Union back on its feet again. Brendan Wright is unqualified and a joke he really disgraced himself at the AGM on Wednesday. BRING BACK RAY… Sign the Petition at Jimmys shop!
I agree with Seamus. How come after it was mentioned and proven that there was no impropriety, why would the board not reinstate the CEO? That is as good as saying that he is still guilty, which it has been shown he isnt! I think that Brendan Wright and the board are in cahoots with each other to bring down Ray McCarthy for their own personal reasons and have lost sight of the actual goal which is to get the CU back on its feet. Someone I spoke to in SuperValu only at the weekend even said that they saw Brendan acting in an aggressive manner. He was apparently shouting at the staff and banging doors behind him, all in front of the customers!!!! Is this the way a Treasurer behaves for a multi million Euro Business? Ridiculous….
Hey there, best thing is if you owe them money don’t pay. I am not and it takes them 2 years to go legal, once I have paid off my credit card balance I will offer them a fiver a week.
Its easy, they don’t know what they are doing. Did not even meet that Ray man…so don’t feel a bit guilty
Is that Mccarthy man from da halting site?? hahah we could run the place better.
JUST HEARD CHARLEVILLE IN TROUBLE, I AM SCARED MY MONEY IS NOT SAFE IN MY TALLAGHT CREDIT UNION, ARE THEY ALL THE SAME.. PLEASE HELP, I AM 70 AND THIS WOULD FINISH ME OFF IF MY SAVINGS WERE GONE???
Savings are guaranteed up to €100,000 for each member under the Irish State’s Deposit Guarantee Scheme. If your savings are above this amount and you are worried have a chat with your local Money Advice and Budgeting Service for help. Go to http://www.mabs.ie/ to find details for your local MABS office
George, thank you for your prompt reply, I am worried I have never owed a penny and it seems if I did I would be better off. I would be too ashamed to seek help. Just trust that my credit union is safe, don’t believe in this government anymore. I bet they will cut my pension in December. Who do you trust.. the fat cats.. surly not!!
Thank you for you kindness.
Reading diz threads is funny……….I am a Tipp man and proud of my roots but if you are from Roscrea they knock yer… clear ray’s name he is some man… go on jimmy.. you are a gas man………
Ray is the Roscrea one!! stand behind him , rumours were put out by the scared cats AKA the board of roscrea credit union.. dey aint fat cats but scared cats..
I agree with you, but please do seek advice. You will understand, as we are not aware of your particular circumstances we are unable to advise you as much as we would like. So call to your local MABS office and set your mind at ease.
Gez wudn want ta put my savins in de CU. Keep it under de floorbords
George
You seem to have the knowledge, I have savings in the wifes name and I owe a bit to credit union in Tipp.. Can I take the money and run? that Ray lad is a grand man, whole town is up the spout if the credit union is in debt of that amount. Will MABS pay off money owned by decent people?
Unique, What happens if the wife does a runner?
George – hmmmm…. expensive way to get rid ;o) However I did mean as a joint decision. Is it possible to clean the account.
Seriously, I do not think you have anything to worry about. The vast majority of CU’s here in Ireland have behaved far better and more professional than most of the banking fraternity.
Good CU’s are getting stronger and small businesses are beginning to benifit from their very existance. Continue as you are and remember that savings are guaranteed up to €100,000 for each member under the State’s Deposit Guarantee Scheme.
Please contact the credit union if you are worried, they have trained staff. They will be sympathetic but you have to pay back your loans!!
Unique – I am an account holder at Roscrea CU and, assuming that is where yours and your wifes account is too, then if you are looking for advice on getting your mind put at rest, I remember talking to a guy called David there. He was extremely helpful in talking me through the aspects of what was best for me and my account. I am keeping my money there, (at least for the time being), but that is in main due to the knowledge and understanding that I had from the staff, namely David. Give them, or him a call and I am sure you will get some great advice too. Hope that helps… Stef
I agree with Stefan. My family has 2 loans with the CU and since losing my job 3 months ago, I was worried about making payments. I dont believe in waiting for one member of staff to come back as mentioned here in earlier posts, just to make payments, after all business is business. I just care that I am getting a good return on what I have and help for the times I have nothing to pay back. For advice and help I spoke with the credit control manager there. I think her name was Susan or Sarah. She explained to me options I have on repaying my loan and how the CU would help. I actually didnt realise how flexible the Credit Union actually was! They are friendly and helpful, just pick up the phone and explain your situation.
The fact is if you dont pay back your loans its the same as stealing!
Honest – I agree, but sometimes there are extenuating circumstances as to why one cannot pay. Loss of job etc. I agree that if you do not pay you are stealing ‘effectively’, but what others are saying are that they WILL pay, but only when this Ray McCarthy man is re-instated. So no, that is not stealing, that is deferring payment. I was merely bringing attention to the fact that I had received great help from RCU in moving my situation forward.
Honest – Do ye have a loan with the RCU? Do ye know what is going on dere at the moment? None of us members do, but dere is plenty of rumirs. De hole town knows dat de man causing all de problems is yer man from de bog. He has no qualifications to run on de board and made a complete fool of himself at de AGM. De people of RCU are not paying back de loans as protest against him being in charge. Brendan Wright should step down, den more people would pay back. No man is stealing here.
People who have money saved at a Credit Union are in a far better postion than if they have money deposited at a bank. With a bank there are NO measures in place to protect your money. Credit Union have a huge amount of regulation in place to protect members money and the types of services that Credit Unions can legally offer to it’s members.
To Scared: Tallaght Credit Union is one of the biggest and best run Credit Union’s in the country. They have recently taken on a new manager who is very proactive is putting the member first. They have also taken on a state of the art Savings Card replacing the old Savings Stamps. this protects against money laundering and fraud and also ensures that if you loss your card, your money is STILL SAFE, something that stamps didn’t do.
I think people need to stop buying into all this fear and scaremongering. If you read the article about Roscrea Credit Union, the key thing that should hit you is that there is a State Deposit Guarantee Scheme in place AND Special Protection Fund set up by the Irish League of Credit Unions.
Peter,
I agree totally- However with Roscrea the issue appears to be dividends which is understandable.
Hi Scared. It is important to note that your money is an awful lot safer in your credit union that it probably is in the bank. For a start you wont find any credit union loans in nama, not a single cent of taxpayers money has had to be put into any credit union to keep it afloat (wish we could say the same for the banks) and there is the state guarantee of €100,000 for every memebr of a credit union. I know that an awful lot of people dont trust the state and the reliability of the guarantee scheme. It is important to note thyat unlike the banks, the credit unions have there own support scheme. The isish league of credit unions have a stabilisation scheme which had been set up for many years. this scheme was set up years ago to help any credit union that may experience in the future. At the moment i think there is about €115 million in this scheme.
I also heard about when TV3 first ran a story about mitchelstown credit union about 2 years ago and it caused panic in the town. That credit union is still up and running and all the members money is safe and guaranteed. The sad part about that story was that many older people withdrew all of their savings during the panic and subsequently re lodged them when things settled down but because they had made a withdrawal they had affested their death insurance which for many of them was the only life insurance cover they had. So if you ask me, don’t believe every rumour you hear and all the speculation in the media, i’m leaving my mony in the credit union
Losses of € 6m on a € 40m loan book and large guarantees from lcu fund, what are these guys at ?
So funny to read Charlie Weston today, he said that directors of credit union will have to be qualified… If this had happened before, there would be no loss of 6 million plus!!!! They sign off the big loans!!
Saddo.
Unless you were there, nobody knows who was signing off on the big loans!
Was it the board or this Ray fella (without the knowledge of the board)?
I’m sure there is some reason for the guy getting suspended/sacked. NO smoke without fire.
And if it wasn’t for these unqualified volunteers who got up off their arse and set up a CU in roscrea in the first place (30 odd years ago) the 40 million euro worth of loans that people have in the town, wouldn’t be spent in the town!
They’ve alot to be thanked for, for bringing that kip of a town from where it was to where it is now.
And if these volunteers are being audited properly by PROFESSIONAL auditors and supevised properly by the league (PROFESSIONALS)…where the hell are they hiding?
The facts need to come out before people jump to conclusions or sign petitions!
Let the AGM have the answers, looking forward to seeing how my interest rebate was spent!!! Mmmm oh I know that Dublin Fella… as in Newbridge 4k a day and he be laughing at us Roscrea fools.