TÁNAISTE EAMON GILMORE has said that the takeover of Newbridge Credit Union by Permanent TSB is a “one-off case”.

Speaking to journalists at the Department of Education today, Gilmore said he could understand the “sense of disappointment” there is in Newbridge, with one group threatening to take their case to Europe to stop the takeover.

The Central Bank was expected to make an application to have the loans and assets of the credit union transferred to the state-backed bank today, but an order of transfer was signed in the High Court yesterday.

“The action has to be taken to protect the depositors and the savings that were in the credit union,” Gilmore said. “We would have preferred if it had been possible to have had an amalgamation of credit unions. This does not have ramifications for other credit unions, this is something that has happened on a one-off basis.”

(Video: Hugh O’Connell/YouTube)

The Tánaiste added that the government supports the “ethos and the solidarity that the credit unions are based on” and hopes it will be possible to have a credit union in Newbridge again.

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