Rural communities will not be bullied by big banks trying to strip away their services – Ring

AIB’s U-turn on removing cash services at branches demonstrates that communities in rural Ireland are a force to be reckoned with and will fight back against any attack on their way of life, according to Fine Gael TD Michael Ring.

Deputy Ring welcomed AIB’s reversal of a decision to make 70 branches cashless following a backlash from members of the public and many public representatives.

Deputy Ring said: “I’m delighted that AIB saw common sense finally and made a U-turn on the shocking decision to remove cash services at a large number of branches across the country.

“The fact that AIB didn’t even inform the Government of this move shows utter disregard in the behaviour of the executives making these decisions, even when the State remains a major shareholder in the bank.

“We have seen people in rural Ireland rise up before to defend the services and businesses in their communities and they have rightly done so in response to the AIB debacle this week.

“Let this be a warning to big banks and anyone else in this country that they should think twice before they attempt to strip services away from our rural communities in the future,” Deputy Ring concluded.