‘Rural Ireland is being ignored again’: Scrapped cashless bank plans anger Cork locals

When Sean Murphy heard his local AIB branch in Castletownbere, west Cork, was one of 70 across the country selected to no longer handle cash by this October, he says he couldn’t sleep properly that night with worry.

Aged 65, he has been a wheelchair user since 2003 and suffers from ataxia which affects his co-ordination, balance and speech. With the help of his wife Phil, he has managed to maintain a level of independence that depends on him being able to access his local bank. Ataxia means he is unable to use a smartphone or a numeric keypad because the condition causes his hands to constantly shake involuntarily.

“I can do very little with my hands because of the tremors so I’m dependent on cash. I was always able to go into the branch and the staff there would be a great help to me but now I just don’t know how we are going to cope,” he said hours before the announcement of a U-turn by the bank on Friday on its plans for additional cashless banks following a public outcry.

[ AIB reverses plan to make 70 banks cashless following ‘public unease’ ]

[ AIB’s cashless banks U-turn: ‘It’s such a relief, it will save us so much extra time and effort’ ]

AIB in Castletownbere is the only bank located on the Beara Peninsula, a rugged coastal area of almost 600sq km. If the branch went cashless the nearest full service outlet would be in Bantry more than 50km away and a two-hour round trip by car; for people living at the western end of the peninsula, the journey would be more then 70km and a three-hour return journey.

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“Do they realise the cost of fuel just to go to the bank? Aren’t we supposed to be reducing our emissions but they want us to drive all the way to Bantry now just to use the bank, I don’t think Eamon Ryan would be very happy about it,” said Mr Murphy.

In 2006, he was part of a local group who campaigned to have a wheelchair ramp installed at the Castletownbere branch.

“We spent a number of hours outside making our point, and in fairness the bank listened and two weeks later a wheelchair ramp was put in.” Independence is so important and what they were planning would take that away from him, he said. “I have a friend who brings me out for a drink every now and then and I can pay my way bringing cash with me, I wouldn’t be able to use a smartphone or a deal with pin numbers, I am comfortable with using cash”, but it seemed like they want to force people to do it their way, he said.

There was a lot of anger at the decision in Beara: “I’m very cross with them, as are a lot of people I know,” he said before AIB reversed its plans. “When they were in trouble they were helped out but they don’t want to provide a service for rural Ireland, they are giving us the two fingers. It’s the same story of rural Ireland being ignored again, they are hitting the nail with a hammer.”

For Olivia Wiseman at Wiseman’s drapery and shoe store in Castletownbere, the AIB decision would have presented a different set of problems. Established in 1903 by her great-grandfather, Wiseman’s is the definition of a traditional, local family business.

“We have been a part of the town for so long people know us and we know them,” she said.

“Of course we take cards and we do have a Facebook page, but really our business is based on stocking what the people in the area need. Many of our customers pay cash, probably 40 per cent or more, and a lot of them are comfortable with that and of course we are happy to be able to do that for them.”

When cash services were due to end at the branch Ms Wiseman was worried about the security risks of holding cash at the store.

It was devastating news, she said, not just because of security issues but the time it would take to go to another bank. “We are a small business, do I have to leave the shop floor for three hours every day? Or if I wait until we close up it’s a two-hour return trip to Bantry, I’ll be getting home at 9pm or should we hold cash here overnight?” she wondered, when the initial announcement was made that 70 more branches were going cashless.

It would be one more difficulty the business did not need, she said.

“We were forced to close for nine months due to Covid and now costs are rising for everything. The cost of fuel just to go to the bank would be very significant and I have a petrol car so I wouldn’t even be able to claim the VAT back. It’s really not fair what they are proposing,” she said.

Dunmanway, 70km away from Castletownbere, was another of the 12 branches in Co Cork AIB had selected to cease cash services. The plan was felt keenly in the town that saw the closure of its only other bank branch, Bank of Ireland, last year.

Andrew Healy, who owns the SuperValu supermarket in Dunmanway, believed profit was the primary motivation for the proposed changes.

“It’s simple commercial greed, what else would you call it? People here need services but they are continually being taken away.” They would expect people to go to Clonakilty or Bandon if the change was introduced, “but it’s a very different matter going to the next nearest branch in west Cork than it is for people living in cities”.

He wondered what were older people supposed to do if the changes were introduced. “I know a lady who is tech savvy enough but she doesn’t want to use online banking, she’s afraid she will press the wrong button and people are afraid of fraud too and cyber security. There should be options available for people but it seems that the banks feel they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by doing this.”