STRATEGIC PARTNERS
November 28, 2001
IRELAND – According to a report in the Irish Independent, rural communities are assailingbanks for closing branches in outlying areas.
Representatives of hundreds of community groups spoke out at a Nov. 19 meeting of the National Rural Development Forum in Connemara, rejecting the ideas of Internet banking and ATMs as impractical for rural life.
Felix O'Regan of the Irish Bankers Federation told the forum that at the end of 2000, there were 908 bank branches and sub-offices around the country, more than the 905 branches located throughout Ireland at the end of 1991.
But Seamus Boland of Irish Rural Link, an umbrella body for 300 community groups, called on the banks to be honest and admit the number of closures that had already taken place and the numbers planned. He said the figures available to him indicated that there had been up to 50 closures over an eight-month period.
"The new technology banking system using the phone and Internet is not suitable for many as a sizeable number of the rural population won't adapt to that technology and, anyway, it is too difficult to lodge money using that system," Boland said.
According to Tom Burke, a Clare County councillor and executive member of the Federation of Retail Newsagents, people now travel up to 40 miles to get to an ATM.
