Credit Unions in Focus: Clonard Credit Union

Community 2 min read

27 Apr 2020

Throughout the Covid-19 Pandemic, and the fear and anxiety that the virus has brought for the health and wellbeing of our nearest and dearest, communities all over Ireland have also been thrown into financial uncertainty.

Job losses, temporary reprieves with government funding, and growing concerns of what we can expect when things return to ‘normal’ – there is not a household island-wide that isn’t feeling the impact on some level.
Credit unions all over Ireland, as an essential service, remain open for members to manage their finances. As the needs of their members vary drastically, credit unions such as Clonard Credit Union Ltd in West Belfast have introduced a number of measures in recent weeks to directly support those impacted by job loss, financial strain, and the anxiety of coming to the office as a result of Covid-19.

Covid Loan Advance Scheme

With many local businesses furloughing staff, or having to make job cuts, there was a significant rise in the demand for Universal Credit, the UK government’s payment support system for those on low income or out of work.

But with assessment for new applications under the Universal Credit system taking approximately 6weeks, the credit union wanted to ensure those awaiting a decision or receipt of benefit payment wouldn’t be struggling financially.

Ruth Clarke, CEO of Clonard Credit Union said:
“Our Covid Loan Advance scheme gave both existing and new members an opportunity to avail of small amounts of money immediately, and to top it up if required, until their claim for Universal Credit or their furlough payment came through. Our hope is that this scheme could act as a temporary replacement for a regular wage for those awaiting government scheme payments.”

Home Visits

Clonard Credit Union was already operating a home-visit scheme for members to access key credit union services who were unable to leave their own homes. They have extended this scheme to those self-isolating or cocooning, to ensure members access to services is on-going, particularly for those whose benefits are currently paid directly into the credit union.

Ruth said:
“Our home visit service has been of huge benefit to some of our members, who are unable to attend the office to complete their business, and do not have access to online facilities. With current restrictions in place, we wanted to ensure that those within our community who were in isolation, or who were anxious about attending the office, could still avail of the credit union’s services. Many of our members receive benefit payments, and need to access those funds as soon as they can. Of course, the safety of our staff is paramount, but we have introduced a number of safety procedures and security measures that allows us to continue facilitating members with home visits at this time.”

Loan repayments

As many credit unions around the country will have experienced, Clonard Credit Union were dealing with queries from members with concerns about their loan repayments.

Ruth said:
“The fundamental purpose of our credit union is to meet our members’ needs. We fully understand that the financial circumstances of many households within our local community may be under pressure, and that many of our members will have concerns about their finances, and the potential as yet unknown impacts that the pandemic may bring.

“Clonard Credit Union has always operated a flexible approach to lending, with loans and their repayment terms catered to suit the individual member’s circumstances. We are here to help. If someone has a loan with us, and they are worried about their financial situation, it is our responsibility and commitment to do what we can to alleviate that. Our staff will look at individual circumstances on a case-by-case basis, with the ability to introduce payment breaks and reduced payments to ease the pressure for struggling borrowers.”


If you would like to get in touch with Clonard Credit Union to avail of any of the above services, call 02890 322 507. Or you can contact your own local credit union here, to see what supports are available.