BLACKROCK, Ireland–A merger here that would have created one of the largest credit unions in the country has been rejected.
Members of St. Michael’s Credit Union here voted against a combination with the recently merged Ballyphehane and St Finbarr's South credit unions. The new body would have had assets of €170m and 34,000 members.
It is just the latest credit union to reject efforts by the Department of Finance and the Central Bank to get hundreds of credit unions to merge to create larger units, according to the Irish Independent.
About 180 credit unions are resisting Finance Minister Michael Noonan and the Central Bank's encouragement to combine, the Independent reported.
Members of St Michael's rejected the motion to merge at a meeting this week by a majority of 60%.
“It is understood to have been a heated meeting, with members unconvinced by the arguments put forward by the board for the tie-up,” the Independent said.
The credit union has 14,000 members and assets of €50m.
The recent merger of Ballyphehane and St Finbarr's South created a unit with close to 20,000 members, according to figures from the Irish League of Credit Unions. The new body has assets of €111m, according to the Independent.
John Doyle, the chief executive of the Credit Union Restructuring Board, the state body set up to facilitate credit union mergers, said the members' vote would be respected.
"The members of St Michael's don't want the merger, so it is not going to happen,” said Doyle.
Two previous mergers were opposed by members but went ahead. Last year's €158m tie-up between Dublin's Coolock-Artane and Swords to form Member First proved unpopular but ultimately went ahead, the Independent reported.