Granard Bank closure meeting, L-R: Cllr Michael Carrigy, FG; Ciaran Nally, Chief Executive Kiernan Milling; Deputy Deputy Rober Troy, FF; Cllr P.J. Reilly, FF; Canice Dunphy, Supervalu, Granard; Sean Donohoe, J.V. Donohoe's Pub; Pascal Masterson, Masterson's Electrical; Sinead Fay, Paul Fay Bookmake

Granard Ulster Bank closure won’t be reversed

Sean McMahon in Granard

The closure of the Ulster Bank branch in Granard is going ahead at the end of November and, despite strong representations from a delegation of public representatives and local business people at a meeting with the regional manager yesterday morning (Tuesday) at the branch, the decision won’t be reversed.
In a statement to The Anglo-Celt, Ulster Bank confirmed that Granard branch is closing by the end of November 2014, with customers being transferred to the Longford branch. 
“We will also be writing directly to customers of that branch in the coming weeks to inform them of alternative branch locations in their area and the range of banking services available on their mobiles, online and via telephone. There will be no additional job losses as a result of this announcement,” added the statement.
When the members delegation came out from the 90-minute meeting with the Ulster Bank regional manager, Colm Furlong, they spoke to The Anglo-Celt.
Fine Gael Deputy, James Bannon, expressed his huge disappointment at the meeting about the decision of the management of Ulster Bank to move out of Granard. “They gave us no indication whatsoever that they would reverse their decision to move out of Granard. We expressed our annoyance on behalf of the business community, the elderly citizens and many other people living in the surrounding parishes of Granard who over the years have supported this branch. Three or four generations of people have supported this branch and people are feeling very annoyed that it is to close at the end of October/early November,” he said.

Loyalty

Deputy Bannon pointed out that the town of Granard has the cattle mart and people who don’t do a lot of banking on the internet and broadband is very patchy in the area and there are a huge number of people who don’t avail of banking on line.
He added that they were given a commitment that the Ulster Bank branch in Edgeworthstown is not going to close. “They said it was going very well and since the bypass was constructed there, banking has increased in the Edgeworthstown area.”
They also gave a commitment that they would liaise with local businesses in relation to the provision of ATM machines and other banking services in business in the town.
Fianna Fáil deputy Robert Troy said the only commitment that they gave at the meeting was that they were not going to change the closure decision and it would not be rescinded.
Deputy Troy said they then concentrated on having proper alternatives put in place for the discommoded customers and ensure that there are ATM facilities in the town. They also sought a commitment from the regional manager that the bank would speak to all the individual businesses and ascertain what supports could be put in place for them.
“It is very disappointing to think that a service and a facility that has had the support of Granard and the wider area for in excess of 140 years will no longer be there from the end of October. It just came down to the bottom line – profit and loss – it is more profitable for them as an organisation and a company to close the doors. I suppose they don’t have a sense of loyalty to the people who have been loyal to them for the last number of years, which is disappointing. The decision has been made and it is now important that the staff of Ulster Bank do engage with the people, to see how they can support them going forward,” he said.

Devastating news

Pascal Masterson, Masterson Electrical, said it was devastating news and the bank has been in the town for the past 145 years through thick and thin. He said they would be striving to get the banks to work with the post offices. He said that was discussed at the meeting and they said they had no facilities for that at present.
The chief executive of Kiernan Milling, Ciaran Nally, told The Anglo-Celt that his read on the situation after the meeting was that bank will close. 
“In the business I am looking after, we do a lot of online banking anyway but I can well understand the concerns of the people of Granard. When people leave this town to do their lodgements and their business, they will bring their business elsewhere and Granard will then suffer. That is shocking with the amount of empty buildings in town today. Take a few more out of it and it becomes a ghost town,” he remarked.
Kiernan Milling employs 60 people and with drivers on top of that, the figure is over 100 and a lot of them would be banking in Granard. “It is easier for them to take time out of their working day to come in here. Where will they go if they can’t come in here to do their banking? They will take their business elsewhere,” suggested Mr Nally. 
Local councillors, Michael Carrigy (FG) and PJ Reilly (FF) also expressed this disappointment that the branch closure is to go ahead. Cllr Reilly: “When we asked why Granard was selected (for closure) as a thriving business in the community, the reason they gave was that it was being serviced by Edgeworthstown, by Longford, Arva, Ballyjamesduff and there was a wide rural community there that could transfer to any branch.” 
When asked what alternative they were providing for Granard, they said that they were willing to research in regard to putting an ATM machine in the town. “We did request that the ATM be one of the modern one’s that would be able to take lodgements. They said they will negotiate with business people in the town to try to find a suitable location for an ATM machine,” he added.