The saints sent marching off - new name for credit union
It started with the prayer of St Francis, and ended with the routing of St Mary. A special general meeting of St Mary’s Navan Credit Union took place on Tuesday night, proposing the change of name of the institution to accommodate new credit unions which had joined it.
St Scire also got a brief look-in. But in just over an hour and a half, St Mary’s Navan Credit Union, founded 60 years ago in the county town, together with Ballivor/Kildalkey, Ballyjamesduff and St Scire’s credit unions, become Credit Union Plus.
The lady whose job it was to sell this proposal, St Mary’s Credit Union chairperson, Jacqui McCormack, proved quite formidable in setting out her stall, and had she been in charge of the British Remain campaign, the Brexit result may have been different.
However, the lady wasn’t for remaining, but for change and moving on. The alternative was being left behind, and getting swallowed up.
“We are in a unique position among credit unions in that we are a leading credit union,” she told the packed Knowth suite in the Newgrange Hotel. And she wanted to ensure they remained in that position.
But that would mean improving their lending portfolio, and getting involved in better engagement with members, to remain sustainable.
Of the 40,000 members in the new set-up, only 6,333 were borrowers.
The Credit Union needed to be more relevant to the next generation, meet borrowing needs, expand product offerings and use of technology, the chairperson stated. It needed to be the first place of call, not the lender of last resort, needed to appeal to younger members, communicate better, and improve the brand recognition.
The credit union needed to grow its membership, expand its loan book, and improve membership services. It didn’t want to be having to go knocking on another door, it wanted be the ‘go to’ institution for others looking to merge.
Already, Dunshaughlin was coming on board with them, and another unnamed credit union was also awaiting a board decision.
But the new name and brand was needed to capitalise on these opportunities. It would prompt a series of further enhancements including new branch locations, and a web/mobile presence.
They would still be recognising the history of St Mary’s, and all its heritage and legacy, she said, but needed to put the credit union on a footing to move and change, appealing to members to give the opportunity to the board and staff to move forward.
Not everyone was buying it. Long standing member Eddie Carew felt that St Mary’s shouldn’t be dropped – after all it was in St Mary’s parish it was founded. The logo was being dropped too, he noted. Hadn’t lots of people, particularly Tara Mines workers, joined over the years, and it didn’t need to change, he said.
Quick as a flash, Ms McCormack pointed out that there had been several name changes at Tara Mines over the years, and the credit union had always worked with industry in Navan.
She denied another member’s suggestion that she felt the name of St Mary’s was an impediment to the development, or that the progress depended on the name change.
However, that’s the name that had been proposed to the Central Bank after a two-year process of consultation and governance with the relevant credit unions. If the motion wasn’t carried, the title St Mary’s remained.
Speakers from the smaller credit unions involved spoke in favour of the name change, as places like Ballyjamesduff weren’t happy with St Mary’s Navan appearing on their wall plaque. These smaller institutions trusted Navan with the governance process and were happy to let them lead, they said.
A Navan member thought that the proposed name did “reflect the more inclusive nature of who we have become” and thought the Credit Union should reach out not just to the younger generation, but to all the new nationalities around the town.
Another speaker reminded the meeting of Fr Andy Farrell, a founder member, and it was one of his successors as Adm in Navan that also took issue with the name change.
Fr Declan Hurley acknowledged the voluntary work of all the board, and supported the move forward, but felt that the presentation failed to convince the audience of the need to change the name. He felt Credit Union Plus was a very weak name. And was just something thought up of for the now, with no long term thought.
And the letter sent out by the credit union spoke of inclusion. Does that mean that anything with the name St Mary’s in the town was excluding people, he asked – many groups and organisations in the town use it.
Again showing her political skills, the chairperson batted off a question from a member about the coast of all this rebranding – it would be absorbed into the marketing strategy budget.
A secret ballot on the proposed rule amendment followed the debate, where a two-thirds majority was needed to agree the name change. It was tight – of 147 who voted, 103 voted in favour of the new moniker, with 44 against. A five-vote margin.
There was a more pressing matter under any other business. The credit union car draw. Eddie Carew was put out that with all these new members, his chances of winning the monthly car were greatly diminished.
But, buoyed after the victory, the chairperson promised that in the next month or two, there would be lots more prizes in the goody bag as the credit union’s resources expanded.
On a sadder note, having opened on the credit union movement’s invocation, the prayer of St Francis, the meeting concluded with a minute’s silence for the victims of the dreadful Hawe family tragedy in Ballyjamesduff which occurred on Monday.