History of St Gabriel's credit Union Ltd.

St Gabriel's (Cork) Credit Union Ltd. was founded against the background of industrial unrest in the Department of Post and Telegraphs in 1965. At that time the telephone operators went on strike and engineering branch workers decided not to pass their colleagues pickets. It was among workers observing the picket that the idea of forming a credit union was first discussed. When the dispute was settled in early 1966 the balance remaining in the strike distress fund was transferred to the new credit union, by now called St Gabriel's Credit Union. This name was chosen as St Gabriel is the patron saint of communication workers.
Initially St Gabriel's, like other credit unions, existed as a study group. The first recorded meeting of St Gabriel's states that the study group met in the dining room in the Head Post Office, Cork on 28th February 1966. This meeting was addresses by Messrs Birmingham, McCarthy and Lockheed who represented the Cork Chapter of Credit Unions. Following this meeting the first AGM of St Gabriel's took place in the A.O.H. Hall, Morrisson's Island on the 23rd March 1966. The Board of Directors and the Supervisory Committee were elected at this meeting and the first board meeting took place two days later. The first president of St Gabriel's was Mr. Jim Hurley.
Initially St Gabriel's had no real fixed abode. However after a time a room at the sorting office in Brian Boru Street and another small room in the H.P.O. were obtained from the Department of Post and Telegraphs for credit union activities . Soon a comprehensive collection system to facilitate the members and to minimise any disruption of work routines was in place. The collecting system worked as follows

1. Copley Street Engineering Department: Two collections every Friday.
2. Dundanion Training School, Blackrock: One collection every Friday.
3. H.P.O. Pembroke Street: Three collections every Friday.
4. Sorting Office, Brian Boru Street: Three collections every weekend, to cover shift work.

 In 1968 St Gabriel's applied to the Registrar of Friendly Societies to register as St Gabriel's (Cork) Credit Union Ltd. However before this could happen a technical requirement of the 1966 Credit Union Act had to be complied with, ironically St Gabriel's a credit union serving postal workers lacked a formal address and post box. After negotiation with the then District Engineer the Department of Post and Telegraphs allowed St Gabriel's to use a small door leading to the telephone exchange on Pembroke Street for this purpose. In January 1969 notification was received from the registrar accepting St Gabriel's as a registered Credit Union as from 3rd January 1969. In the years after this St Gabriel's made slow but steady progress.
The next major event in the history of St Gabriel's was another industrial dispute, this time the postal strike of 1979. This dispute lasted 5 months and presented the Board of St Gabriel's with a number of problems, Both locations where St Gabriel's operated were placed under picket, so to avoid conflict the board decided to cease operations at these locations. Basic services were transferred to a small room in Winthrop Street used by the Engineering Branch, who were not on strike. As an example of co-operation between credit unions, Ballinlough Credit Union kindly offered the use of their offices for the duration of the strike.
More serious for St Gabriel's was the effect the dispute had on it's finances. With a large number of it's member on strike and many other subscribing to the strike fund, many members were unable to make repayments on their loans. At the same time there was an increase in the demand for new loans as members struggled to make ends meet. To meet this demand the Board of Directors withdrew money from its Investment Fund and took out a loan of £10,000 from Ballyphehane Credit Union. When the dispute ended the Board of Directors set up a special committee to liaise with people in serious financial difficulties.
After testing times in the late seventies St Gabriel's once more looked to the future. In 1981 it decided to set up a payroll deduction scheme to replace the existing collection system which was becoming unwieldy as the credit union grew. This however took some time to set up and it was not put in place until 1988 in Telecom Eireann and 1990 in An Post.
One reason the setting up of payroll deduction took so long was the splitting of the Department of Post and Telegraphs into two semi-state bodies in January 1984. This split posed a serious threat to the continued survival of St Gabriel's, as the Registrar of Friendly Societies ruled that industrial credit unions must be confined to one employer. Since St Gabriel's was now divided over two companies this could not be allowed to continue . After intense lobbing by St Gabriel's with the help of the Irish League of Credit Unions and Toddy O'Sullivan T.D., one of the first members of St Gabriel's, a compromise was reached. Since the Department of Post and Telegraphs continued to act as the regulatory body for both companies, technically staff in both companies still had a common employer hence St Gabriel's continued to exist.
With threats to its existence out of the way the next problem to overcome was to successfully manage the continued growth of St Gabriel's. In 1983 the Board of Directors decided to computerize its operations. At the time this was a very expensive undertaking. St Gabriel's could not afford a computer of it's own so instead it rented spare capacity from Ballyphehane Credit Union. This arrangement was to last until 1993 when St Gabriel's bought its own computer.
By the mid eighties the existing accommodation in Brian Boru Street had become inadequate for St Gabriel's growing needs, so the Board decided to look for new premises. In August 1989 St Gabriel's moved to a portion of the telephone exchange building in Quaker Road. So after 23 years in existence St Gabriel's finally had its own address and post box thereby complying not just in spirit but in fact with the 1966 Credit Union Act.
Up to 1994 St Gabriel's relied on volunteers and a part time manager, Gus Hanley, to carry out its functions. However at this stage due to the increasing workload and the sudden illness of Gus, the Board of Directors decided to hire our first full time member of staff. This process led to the appointment of our current office administrator Mr. Alan Duff. Permanent staff allowed St Gabriel's to have longer opening hours, to introduce new services such as foreign exchange etc. and to actively encourage family members to join. This in turn lead to a huge growth in St Gabriel's, so that today we have one part time and three full time and two part time members of staff to serve our 2,400 plus members.
As St Gabriel's expanded it became obvious that the premises in Quaker Road could not longer deal with the demands placed on it. In 1997 the Board of Directors sanctioned the purchase of No.s 34-35 St Patrick's Quay, next door to the old sorting office in Brian Boru Street, with the view of renovating these premises as new offices for St Gabriel's Credit Union. Work of this building is currently ongoing.
The success of St Gabriel's has many factors but chiefly it is due to the loyalty of its members and the dedication, hard work and vision of its Board of Directors, supervisory committee and volunteers. Many people deserve credit, far too many to mention in this short history, so to all our members, volunteers, board of directors members and supervisory committee members through the years thank you for your contribution to our success.