Irish Nationwide members have voted in favour of two motions on demutualisation at their AGM in Dublin today.
A motion backed by the society's board was carried by 12,668 votes to 1,461, while a motion by Brendan Burgess calling on the board to notify IFSRA of its intention to demutualise before December 31 was also carried - by 7,810 to 6,191.
But the society has said it regards its own motion as being the 'more comprehensive and appropriate', given that it took into account the fact that legislation allowing demutualisation had not been passed.
Meanwhile, chairman Michael Walsh defeated Mr Burgess by 2,674 to 1,013 for a place on the Nationwide board.
Earlier Mr Walsh told the AGM that Irish Nationwide was concerned at the implications of recent findings of an All-Party Oireachtas Committee.
The committee proposed a cap on the price of building land. Mr Walsh said that any interference in the market would result in a restriction of supply and a sharp increase in prices. He said the Government should put more resources into the planning process.
On demutualisation, he said the process had to be managed in an orderly manner in order to maximise value to members. He added that any attempt to frustrate the process should be rejected.
