Irish banks gave loans to everything from Ascot to Wembley Stadium in recent years as they spread their lending activities across the globe.

Bank of Ireland recently participated in the £341.5m refinancing of Wembley stadium's debt, which was secured at a more favourable interest rate but on an extended loan term.

Meanwhile AIB, along with Barclays, were the lead lenders of £125m to the redevelopment of Ascot's racecourse, which was completed in 2006.

Syndication of loans and securitisation means it is difficult to know if Irish banks are still involved in the loans. However, other recent deals that involved Irish financial institutions include a £760m debt refinancing facility in July of last year for British pub group Admiral Taverns, in which Irish Nationwide was one of the two lead lenders.

Bank of Ireland provides the finance for Shariah-compliant home finance offered to Muslims in Britain by Alburaq financial services, according to Alburaq's website.

Last year, AIB's British corporate banking division backed the buyout of children's clothing supplier Blues Clothing. AIB's website in the United States lists as an example of its municipal finance an $11.7m letter of credit it gave to the City of Long Beach supporting two promissory notes issued by the city in favour of the Department of the Navy, which financed the purchase of a naval hospital site that was redeveloped to include shops and open spaces.

In July, Bank of Ireland joined German bank Helaba to provide $185m in financing to 2075 Holding Co LLC to develop a 196-unit residential building and shops at the corner of Broadway and 72nd Street close to the Lincoln Centre in Manhattan, New York. The same bank had also backed Music Zone, which was Britain's third-largest music and film retailer, before pulling its funding following a "period of difficult trading" in January of 2007.

In 2004, after outrage here, Bank of Ireland famously pulled out of a loan it had offered Remnant Media to help finance the takeover of a portfolio of porn magazines. Its film finance division, meanwhile, has financed films such as Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney, and Woody Allen's Match Point.

In August, AIB and Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking were two of the lenders for the purchase of £309m of assets from a joint venture between BAA and Morley by the Arora Family Trust, which was set up by Surinder Arora, one of the richest Asian businessmen in Britain.

Anglo Irish Bank financed the £60.3m acquisition of 65 freehold Little Chef sites in Britain in 2006, which was subject to a rescue package last year. Anglo's exposure was secured on the freehold assets. Last year, Anglo also backed London Town Group, a British company that manages property, when it bought a portfolio of nearly 170 pubs. The deal was part-financed by a £72.82m debt package provided by the bank. It also backed the purchase of nearly £200m worth of industrial property in Britain by Welsh investor Richard Hayward. The bank also provided the funding to companies called SL Green Realty and City Investment Fund, which bought the tallest office building in Brooklyn, New York, earlier this year for $110m.

In August, Anglo withdrew £89m in development finance for the BSC Group after two of its subsidiaries were placed in administration.