Making a final withdrawal

One bank is pulling its last mobile units off the road, claiming they'reobsolete - but local groups disagree, reports Tom Shiel

The biggest thing on RTÉ television when brightly painted travelling banks began trundling the byways of Ireland was The Riordans. That was almost 30 years ago. Much, apart from our viewing habits, has changed since.

Motorways have blazed trails of tarmac through former farmland, south, west and north out of Dublin. New housing estates encircle provincial towns. The rustic way of life reflected by The Riordans was swept aside as the nation rushed from near penury to unimagined prosperity.

We still have the travelling banks, but only just. Next month, Bank of Ireland will take the last of its fleet off the road, withdrawing from service the four remaining vehicles, which have served Galway and Mayo for decades.

The bank says the fleet has served its purpose, having been created "in an era of poor infrastructure, unsophisticated banking services and minimal technology". A spokeswoman says: "Customer numbers for the travelling banks are very small, and declining. As well, the vehicles involved needed significant capital expenditure. They needed repair and replacement."

Security and health-and-safety issues are also relevant, she says, as is the huge investment in technology that means the countryside is dotted with cash machines. "We have 590 full-service ATMs in the country, and we aim to have 500 retail [in shops and shopping centres\] by the end of the year."

Bank of Ireland points out that in counties Galway and Mayo, where the travelling banks will cease to operate on April 16th, it has 32 branches, 56 full-service ATMs and 45 shop-based machines.

Locals are angry about losing the facility, claiming the bank has acted arbitrarily and showed contempt for long-standing customers. "We will be talking individually with all the customers affected," says the bank spokeswoman. "We know they are disappointed."

Nowhere in the west has opposition to the cut been greater than Achill. The banks came under pressure some years ago when the parish's then priest, Father Paddy Gilligan, criticised the infrequency with which the travelling banks served the island. It was a security risk, he said, for locals to have to hoard money - and he was speaking from experience: Father Gilligan was tied up in his bed by a gang that then fled with his church's weekend collections. Security is again uppermost in many minds.One Achill businessman says he will have to invest in better strongroom facilities.

Pat Kilbane, an Achill-based councillor, says that by withdrawing the vehicles Bank of Ireland is reneging on its social obligation to serve the community. The Fine Gael councillor describes the bank's decision as "anti-rural" and complains that there was no discussion with the affected communities.

"This will involve hardship for the elderly and the isolated in rural areas," he says. "This is a blow to outlying communities who have supported the bank throughout the years. It was not so long ago that the bank was canvassing customers to have pensions paid directly into their accounts and serviced to the customer on the travelling bank. It will be especially difficult for pensioners to adjust to the new situation."

At her shop in Bunnacurry, on Achill, Philomena McHugh recalls the days when there were lots of travelling banks - and lots of stops - on Achill. "Nearly every day there would be a different travelling bank," she says. "All of them would stop in Bunnacurry. Now the one or two that are left just whizz through. They would stop at all the factories once, but not any more. I think the country is going backwards, and the withdrawal by Bank of Ireland of its travelling bank service is an indication of this."

Ann Vesey, a hairdresser based in Dugort, says the service will be gone before locals fully realise what has happened. "There wasn't any consultation and very little warning," she says. "People will be even more shocked when the full impact strikes home after April 16th."

Community leaders in Louisburgh, about 30 miles away, are watching how Achill fares. The economic viability of their town is going down all the time, according to John Staunton, a local businessman. There was a time when Bank of Ireland had a sub-office in Louisburgh and Ulster Bank and AIB despatched travelling banks to collect and dispense cash.Now the town is served by just one travelling bank, from AIB, for two hours a week, and a campaign for a cash machine is faltering.

"These banks make in excess of €1 billion in profits every year," Staunton says. "They are not willing to reinvest in their customers. If I ran my business like that I would be finished inside a week. The banks don't care about the smaller customers."

Last week the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív, said he had asked credit unions to introduce a replacement for the Bank of Ireland travelling banks in the west. The Irish League of Credit Unions, which has 535 affiliated branches, 2.6 million members and €9.5 billion in assets, looks ideally placed to fill the gap. Part of the league's ethos is that it supports rural and disadvantaged communities.

So what does Liam O'Dwyer, the organisation's chief executive, feel about the suggestion? "It is a runner," he says. "Mr Ó Cuív has discussed the matter with us and I have begun discussions with credit-union branches in that part of the country which will be affected by the Bank of Ireland decision. We intend over the next two weeks to establish what the possibilities are. First of all I need to consult with the membership."

His response is some consolation to scattered communities. It's heartening also that AIB, Bank of Ireland's main rival, says it has no plans to change its three-day-a-week service to Achill, Louisburgh and Leenane. Few doubt, however, that sooner or later all travelling banks will be decommissioned, their services made redundant by the changing nature of banking and a more affluent society.