Anger, frustration at £27m computer system fiasco

The quote from Seamus Heaney's translation, Sweeney Astray, outside the conference room at the University of Limerick was not lost on credit union delegates at the weekend: "Where all the madmen of Ireland assemble once their year of madness was complete."

By mid-afternoon yesterday and after five years and £27 million (€34.2 million), the madness was complete and the Irish League of Credit Unions was intact if a little poorer. A healing process had begun, one observer of the meeting noted.

"The members' currency is a currency of trust. A lot of them spent a lot of that on this thing. Now it is a question of winning back some of that trust."

The mood of the two-day special general meeting (SGM) had surprised many who came from every county in Ireland to hear about the computer system fiasco.

"I thought it was going to be rather fiery but it was not," one delegate said at the end of the first day.

There had been anger and frustration, but there also had been the dance in the South Court Hotel on Saturday night, and the essential unity of the organisation.

One speaker said that all the members should be in the same boat leaving the meeting, and hoped it was not the Titanic.

During meals, the talk was often about other matters. Shop talk: the importance of days like this, when views could be exchanged, and how Y2K had prompted some credit unions to invest in computer systems. The question now was how could these be interfaced with a new, unifying system. How much would this new system cost?

All of the sessions were described as civilised and tribunallike. Nobody had shouted anybody down, insulted anybody or made wild allegations. People recognised it was their community organisation and got their speak in.

Emotions waxed and waned. On Saturday, and up to 11a.m. yesterday, many delegates believed the motion of no confidence would have been carried had it been heard then. But forgiveness was creeping in, even before lunch, along with a sympathy vote for Mr McMahon, when a number of motions were put down aimed at him specifically.