Large Crowds gather to meet John Hume.

A very historic event took place at Naomh Breandain Credit Union, Loughrea on Thursday last when Mr. John Hume officially opened its newly renovated offices.

 The ceremony commenced with our Bishop John Kirby blessing the building. Bishop Kirby choos two readings from the Pslams and one final blessing prayer. The first reading told about the care of the Lord and not wasting your money on useless things. Bishop referred to this reading as being one of very few in the Gospel with a positive reference to money. The second reading chosen was the Parable of the Talents - referring to the man who had only one talent and buried it in the ground, giving it back later. He was told he should have put it on deposit with the bankers instead. Credit Unions were not mentioned but the Bishop felt it would be sufficient also.

 Following on from the Final Blessing, Maire Doyle - chairperson of Naomh Breandain Credit Union welcomed John Hume and his wife Patricia to Loughrea and said what an honour it was for all attending to be at this very historic event. Maire spoke about John being only 27 when he became the President of the Irish League of Credit Unions and he was the first representative in the US for the League also. Máire herself is the youngest Chairperson of a credit union in Ireland. This official opening reflects Máire’s proactive work in her role as Chairperson.

 Noel Madden - League Director represented The Irish League of Credit Unions. Noel made reference to Credit Union Principle No 7 “Service to our Members”. Reflecting on the fantastic work in renovating the existing banking hall and the provision of two purpose built offices to deal with members enquiries, it is quite evident that Naomh Breandain Credit Union put the needs of its members first.

 In his speech on Thursday, John Hume told the crowd, he was only 23 years old when he gave his first public speech. The aim of that speech was to establish a credit union in Derry. At that time there was only two credit unions in Ireland - one in Clones and one in Dublin. John was determined to change this statistic - and so he became a founder member of the credit union movement. He invited all Credit Union members to join his campaign in having a national monument in Ireland dedicated to Nora Herlihy - Founder of the Credit Union in Ireland.

 John is regarded as one of the most important figures in the recent political history of Northern Ireland. He is one of the architects of the Northern Ireland Peace Process and the only recipient of the three major peace awards namely The Nobel Peace Prize, The Gandhi Peace Prize and the Martin Luther King Award. In 2010 John was named “Irelands Greatest” in a public pole by Irish Nationwide broadcaster to find the greatest person in Irish History.

 It was a truly memorable day for all those attending on Thursday.