Protest planned over AIB’s plans for Limerick town

MEMBERS of the business community in Rathkeale will join with community leaders and members of the public this Thursday to protest against AIB’s plans for the town.

The bank has announced it will discontinue cash and cheque services later this year.

“This is a bit like having a pub with no beer, a bank with no money,” says Peter O’Donovan of Rathkeale Community Council who is one of the organisers of Thursday’s protest.

Combined with the closure of the Bank of Ireland branch on October 8, it will leave the town without full and proper banking facilities, Mr O’Donovan said. Moreover, AIB customers wanting to avail of cash services will have to go to the AIB branch in Newcastle West, taking potential extra business out of Rathkeale.

The rise in internet banking has been given as a big reason for the changes, Mr O’Donovan continued. But a few miles out from Rathkeale, broadband connectivity falls off, he pointed out. Besides, he added, not everybody, especially older customers, can or is willing to do internet banking.

“We have a letter from the bank saying it is not in a position to change its position,” he said. And he cited Finance Minister Pascal O’Donoghue, speaking in the Dáil, who said he couldn’t tell the bank what to do.

But, Mr O’Donovan said, the people of Ireland are shareholders in AIB and had helped bail out the banks at great cost. “Our children and grandchildren will be paying for that,” he added.

“We deserve better from AIB,” he declared. A lot of bank branches around the country were closing, he said, but they were prepared to fight back in Rathkeale. “We want the bank to stay open with full services and with a manager liaising with the local community.”

He urged people to come along to Thursday’s protest which begins at 1pm sharp.