The president of the credit union movement in Ireland has said it has billions of euro available to lend to its members.
Mark Bailey was speaking at the annual general meeting of the Irish League of Credit Unions in Belfast.
Mr Bailey said that while they had not been immune to the financial crisis, they had weathered the financial storm well and had about €6bn in funds to lend.
Membership of credit unions is growing and Mr Bailey confirmed they were in talks with the Central Bank about implementing changes in the way credit unions are regulated.
The meeting at the Waterfont Hall in Belfast was attended by 1,200 delegates.
One of the guests was the Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
