The Metropole Hotel on Cork's McCurtain Street was packed at the weekend as were most of the city's hotels. The Irish League of Credit Union's a.g.m. was under way in City Hall and an estimated 4,000 people were in town for the largest annual conference in the Irish calendar.

It wasn't all work. When delegates from the league's 536 affiliated credit unions were not making difficult decisions at the meeting, they were gathered in hotel bar rooms having a bit of craic.

On Sunday morning the delegates in the Metropole Hotel looked a bit shaky; like guests on the morning after a successful wedding. With one difference. Age profile. The delegates are in the main middle-aged and over - and this is one of the medium-term problems facing the movement which depends so heavily on volunteers.

More than 2.2 million people are members of the league's affiliated credit unions and they have £3.7 billion (€4.7 billion) on deposit.

The movement has 16,000 volunteers and 1,000 paid staff. It remains to be seen the extent to which younger volunteers will come forward.

Another issue of concern was also evident in the lobby of the Metropole where two firms supplying computer products to individual credit unions were doing business. Technology is the issue around which the debate on the future of the movement has crystallised.

The league needs access to the banks' clearing systems, but for many small credit unions it is difficult to justify supplying the range of services their larger counterparts wish to provide.

The ISIS project was aimed at solving this problem but collapsed after the expenditure of £27 million (€34 million). The league board has now initiated a consultation process involving regional meetings and meetings with user groups, i.e. credit unions which currently use the same technology, before it makes its next move.

However, for all its problems the league is a huge success; it handles an enormous amount of money yet the focus is not on profit but on the principle of co-operation.

A manager of a large credit union said he would like to issue a card to his members which would enable them to use bank ATM machines. However, he said he wouldn't like to have an ATM machine in the outside wall of his credit union.

"We're a community organisation. We want people to come in and have a chat."