As this piece is been written in mid-November 2013 Roscrea Credit Union is close to signing an agreement with it’s auditors, the Irish League Of Credit Unions and the Central Bank to commence hosting it’s outstanding AGM’s. Roscrea Credit Union had been hopeful that this would have been achieved earlier in the year but the demands of the revised Credit Union Act and the introduction of lots more controls, procedures, governance and fitness & probity standards delayed the process. Roscrea Credit Union is safe, secure and strong. Savings at Roscrea Credit Union are safe and secure. All members of Roscrea Credit Union are covered by the state guarantee scheme, which safeguards savings to the value of €100.000.00. As members of Roscrea Credit Union will be aware, for the past few years the Central Bank has imposed lending restrictions on the credit union. These restrictions did not mean that the credit union stopped lending. In the last three months alone Roscrea Credit Union has lent close to €450,000.00, the most of which we envisage has been circulated back into the local economy. Roscrea Credit Union was happy to announce recently an easement of current lending restrictions particularly in relation to secured lending. If you have shares in Roscrea Credit Union we can now lend to you with little delay provided you meet our underwriting terms and conditions. Provided you can demonstrate a capacity to repay and have a clear credit rating with the ICB, Roscrea Credit Union can provide you with a loan up to €10,000.00. For all other lending Roscrea Credit Union is trying to meet demand as best it can. This will mean that your application will take a while to process due to the strict underwriting that is in place at your credit union coupled with the budgets we must adhere to. The good news for unsecured borrowers is that the credit union has in place a three year strategic plan. One year into that plan we received an excellent independent review lately. This coupled with all the new controls, systems, compliance and risk management plan that we have in place has helped put the credit union in a position to commence dealing with the outstanding AGM’s. As part of this plan all staff and Directors now engage in regular training and as part of our Governance Plan no Director will be allowed serve on the Board unless he/she commits to embarking upon a minimum of fifteen hours per year of continuous professional development training. Credit Control continues to be a key area in Roscrea Credit Union. Roscrea Credit Union will continue to work with any member that is experiencing difficulties as long as that member is upfront and honest with the credit control team. What the Credit Union will not tolerate is a small minority of members refusing to honour their debts and making no effort to repay loans given to them in good faith. To those members we say, “Roscrea Credit Union will use the full force of the Irish legal System to retrieve the money that you owe to your fellow members. Roscrea Credit Union also continues to offer loan protection and savings protection insurance to our members at no direct cost. In addition we continue to offer Death Benefit Insurance (€1300.00) at no direct cost to the member. Unlike some of it’s fellow credit unions RCU is delighted to be in a position to offer this service. Roscrea Credit Union would like to thank it’s loyal members for their support and patience as we move towards a steady return to growth. Despite the difficulties and challenges of the past few years the membership of Roscrea Credit Union continues to grow and the credit union has stayed very much involved in the local community providing support to many local clubs, events and organisations. With members continued support Roscrea Credit Union will grow, prosper and develop further it’s range of services for you the member. In the last year alone, Roscrea Credit Union was sponsors of the Roscre Beo festival and affiliated sponsors of the Roscrea People and the “Taste Of Roscrea” Christmas festival. The Credit Union has also supported Clonakenny GAA Club, The St Patrick’s Day Committee, the St Cronan’s Day Committee, Cancer Research, and are committed to finding a good project with Roscrea Tidy Towns to work upon. Roscrea Musical Society received support as did Kinnitty Playground Committee and Country Club Badminton Club. In addition the Credit Union provided support to Ballyskenagh/Killavilla GAA Club, Roscrea Juvenile Hurling Club, Roscrea United and Killavilla United. The Credit Union also sponsored the Roscrea Darts Tournament which brought great social and economic benefits to the town last Spring and once again the credit union was also delighted to be involved with the scp copping on awards. Roscrea Credit Union has run great events such as the Schools Poster Competition, and the Schools Quiz in addition to events co-ordinated at credit union regional level. Credit Union personnel give a lot of their own voluntary time to the community and in this regard the Credit Union congratulates Dick Conroy on his “Roscrea People Of The Year Award” last January and on been chosen as the Guest Of Honour at this year’s St Patrick’s Day Parade. Congratulations also to Brian King who introduced the St. Patrick’s Day Mass on RTE which was televised live from Roscrea (Well done Roscrea Comhaltas & Vice Chairman of Roscrea Credit Union, Liam Phelan) and who also Chairs the “Roscrea Enhancement Plan” which was successfully launched during the summer.
Despite the economic woes, Roscrea Credit Union continues to accept requests for sponsorship and voluntary donations. The “Roscrea Credit Union Sponsorship/Voluntary Donation Application Form”, is available to download or apply online from our website www.roscreacu.ie. Alternatively please contact Brian King on (0505) 23601 or email: bking@roscreacu.ie
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