Tallaght District Credit Union celebrating 50 years
By Aideen O'Flaherty
FIFTY members of Tallaght and District Credit Union were whisked away to Glendalough in Wicklow on Wednesday, September 12, as part of the celebrations marking 50 years since the Tallaght-based Credit Union opened.
Most of the lucky members were selected at random by a computer system, and some of those that went have been members of the Credit Union for over 40 years.
Credit Union members before they headed off to Glendalough
Vincent McNally, who volunteers for Tallaght and District Credit Union and retired from being a director of the financial cooperative two years ago, told The Echo: “It was a wonderful day, and the members thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Speaking about the history of the Tallaght and District Credit Union, Mr McNally said it used to be situated in a place what was then ‘Doyle’s Hall’ in Tallaght Village, and that the members used to meet every Sunday in an old post office/youth club that was located to the back of where The Dragon Inn now stands.
“Over the 50 years we’ve been in business, it’s hard to believe that every year so many people have borrowed, paid back and relended money,” said Mr McNally.
“The biggest change [over the years] has been that there is now a lot of regulation in Credit Unions nationwide, whereas, when we started it, it was run as a community-based volunteer service.”
The Tallaght and District Credit Union was founded 50 years ago by Father Paul Hynes, a Dominican Prior, who then instructed Father Pauix Doherty to get volunteers to set up the financial cooperative in Tallaght.
The Tallaght and District Credit Union, which is located on Main Street in Tallaght Village, currently has 11,000 members and assets of over €60million.
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