It is nearly two months since we met with Bank Of Ireland in relation to services being reduced or withdrawn from certain branches in rural areas with many of the branches affected located in the West of Ireland. I met with regional representatives at the time and after a few weeks I realised what I always suspected was the case, that the people in Dublin had already made the decisions and the people we met were sent to sell a story that was spin and bluster.
I put a proposal to them of a way forward but as usual in these cases the decision was already made. People always have the power to chose where they do their banking business and it might be worth looking into who might facilitate a change. People should look at who is open on a Saturday and who has people serving at the counter and not the machines who are now filling in for people and which is totally unsuitable for customers and elderly people in particular.
The people have the power to change if they want to and in a lot of cases people are not aware that they can change. I have to say that I have been very disappointed with the attitude of Bank of Ireland and their memories are very short as it was the Irish taxpayers who bailed them out when they almost went to the wall a few years ago. Their total disregard for their customers especially in rural areas, many of whom have been with them all their lives is a scandal.
