How £3,000 in savings became a nest egg for a community

And that’s certainly the case for Lisnaskea Credit Union Limited.

In September 1975 officers met for their inaugural meeting in the Astral Cinema in town.

With £3,000 of their own money invested in the group, they had aspirations of helping the people of Lisnaskea and in turn, bringing economic benefit to its commercial and business community.

Forty years on and the credit union has transformed beyond all recognition.

Where once its meetings were held in a very modest wooden hut, loaned by P Clarke and Sons Limited, its home can now be found on the main street of the town in a spacious office that operates Monday through to Friday.

It has a current live membership for seniors of 3,072, and minors accounts total 631 (under 16 years old).

Its shares now total £6.8 million and minors deposits total £610,000.

“It just shows you the need that is still there for the credit union,” says John Hanna, one of its founding members.

“When I was asked to get involved, there was a great need back then -- especially for young families starting out. I’m not an officer any more but I still save in the credit union now.” Jim Hueston was one of the original Board of Directors. He recalls how Lisnaskea was the third area in the County to establish a credit union.

“Enniskillen and Derrygonnelly were already up and running.

“It was a local clergy man who initiated the first credit union meeting for us,” he explains, “Father John McKenna asked various people around the area to get involved -- people in the commercial and business community of the town.” During the six months prior to its inaugural meeting, a study group was formed, led by the Irish League of Credit Unions Field Officer, Jack Gorman.

The study group decided a common bond for membership should be residency or employment within a five mile radius of the Diamond in Lisnaskea. This left membership open for all time to all people holding this simple Common Bond.

According to Mr. Hueston, this was one of the credit union’s greatest strengths.

“All the members knew each other. It really helped when it came to encouraging people to repay their loans -- you had that good friendship and trust among the members.” Lisnaskea Credit Union Limited officially opened for business in the Diamond on the first Friday in October 1975.

“We had to form a savings club,” Mr. Hueston recalls, “Out of the 24 of us, we had saved £3,000 of our own money.

“We started lending out on that basis.” Working in the credit union on a voluntary basis every Friday evening required a great personal and indeed financial commitment.

But Lena Benson never saw it as such.

Another founding member, by the time she stood down from office she had turned her hand to every role going in the local credit union.

“I never saw it as a job,” she insists, “It was just something I did every Friday evening.” The credit union was already up and running about a year when she came on board.

“I joined as a teller at first, but throughout my time, I was secretary, vice-chair, chair, I was on the credit committee and the loans committee.” Established at a time when banks weren’t as keen to hand out loans, Lena says Lisnaskea Credit Union quickly grew in popularity.

“It only opened on a Friday evening so it was a busy couple of hours -- it was always steady and a lot of people used it,” she says, “I’d like to think that the credit union helped a lot of people at that time.

“It made a difference to a lot of people’s lives. The loans may have been small, but they made a big impact in the local area because what money people took out, they were putting back into the local area to buy furniture or other high cost items.” Lena remembers the commeradery enjoyed by her co-volunteers every Friday too.

“I really enjoyed it,” she says, “We were a big family unit.

“Everyone went in and worked together. There were all people with full-time jobs. But at the end of the working week, they were in working again at the credit union, for the good of the area and the people living and working there. It was all about having a loyalty to the town.” Her sister-in-law, Margaret Benson, remembers too, the “laughs” and “yarns” enjoyed amongst officers and members every Friday night.

“It was always light-hearted,” she says, “I think people preferred to come into the credit union rather than having to go into a meeting with a bank manager. With us, you were talking to someone you knew and someone you felt comfortable with.” According to Mr. Hueston, people were also attracted to saving or lending from the credit union because of the convenience of its opening hours.

“We operated on a Friday night from 3pm until 9pm,” he explains, “Everyone was paid on a Friday and members could come in and pay off whatever they had to on their loans or put money aside into savings.

“It was up to us then to count up the takings and lodge the money with the bank.

“There was manys a night we sat up into the small hours trying to get the books to balance!

“Our treasurer, Louie McElgunn, was a stern task master and a stickler for accuracy -- everything had to be right. When computers were introduced, it made things a lot easier. There were be no head-scratching nowadays trying to get the books to balance.

“People like the credit union because the rate of interest was very low.

“It have people instant spending power -- you got your loan in cash so you could go to the shop and purchase a suite of furniture and deal with the shop owner to get a discount that you maybe wouldn’t have got if you weren’t paying in cash upfront.” Still a member of the credit union now, Margaret Quaile says it was Mr. Hueston who pursuaded her to become a founding member in 1975.

“I have him to blame!” she jokes, “I remember we were very impressed by how well it took off. I certainly have no regrets.

“To see it still going strong now gives me a great sense of pride. I had heard credit unions in the south were very popular. So I thought, yes, it would possibly take off here, too.

“It was bad back in the 70s and 80s. People didn’t have the access to bank loans that they would have had later on.

“It helped a lot of working class people and made such a difference to people’s lives. It’s nice to have been a part of something like that.

“And I’m still a member to this day.”