TAKEOVER:ANY TAKEOVER of Irish Nationwide in the current climate could put in jeopardy the prospects of a long-anticipated windfall for thousands of members.

For much of the past decade, about 125,000 members have been looking forward to a windfall that had been expected at one stage to exceed €10,000 per person. They have seen the threshold for aspiring members climb steadily over that time to the current level of €20,000.

The society's managing director Michael Fingleton has made no secret of his intention to demutualise the society.

His plan has been frustrated for several years by the need to persuade the Government to amend legislation governing the independence of mutual societies following demutualisation.

Now, it appears, members may have missed the boat. Mr Fingleton conceded at the society's most recent annual general meeting that it would not be in the interests of members to sell the society in the prevailing climate with the credit crunch in full flow.