Petition launched asking for Bank of Ireland to keep its Strand Road branch in Derry open
Bank has said that local branch will close before the end of the year
A petition has been launched calling on Bank of Ireland (BoI) to reverse its decision to close its Strand Road branch in Derry.
BoI announced last week it was to shut 15 of its branches in the North and a further 88 in the Republic.
As well as the Derry office, branches in Limavady, Strabane and Moville are among those to be shut, with the closures to take place later this year.
The other Northern branches are Ballymena, Banbridge, Belfast (Lisburn Road), Belfast (Ormeau Road), Belfast (University Road), Crossmaglen, Downpatrick, Dungannon, Keady, Lisburn, Lisnaskea and Portadown.
Urging people to sign the petition, Sinn Fein Foyle MLA Martina Anderson said local bank branches needed to stay open for 'our town and community to thrive'.
She added: “In the middle of a pandemic when customers and businesses are under severe pressure, Bank of Ireland should not be closing local bank branches in Derry or anywhere else.
“Keeping our local branch in Derry open is crucial for our community and I would urge people to make their voices heard to keep this branch open by signing the online petition.
“Sinn Féin will continue to challenge the rationale for these closures and highlight the impact the loss of services will have on towns and villages.”
The petition will be delivered directly to the Republic's Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, and by post to the chief executive and board of Bank of Ireland and the bank's largest shareholder,
In announcing the closures, BoI said there would be no compulsory redundancies, with affected staff to be offered relocation.
It is not known if all of those at the Strand Road branch will be moved to its office on Culmore Road which opened in May 2014, with BoI declining to give the number of staff who would be affected. The bank said the changes were being made in response to 'significant and accelerating' trends in how people are banking.
To sign the petition, go to my.uplift.ie and search for 'Keep our bank branch open'.