Banks hit hard by industrial action

April 1992

County Wexford was this week proving itself one of the areas of strongest IBOA (Irish Bank Officials Association) support in the country, as 87% of staff took to the picket line in the banks’ dispute this week.

Only 13% of banking staff throughout the county remained working on Monday as the nationwide strike began in support of the IBOA’s long-standing pay rise claim.

Banking services were disrupted in New Ross, Gorey, Enniscorthy, Wexford, Ferns and Bunclody, as bank officials picked up placards and took to the streets.

In Enniscorthy, none of the town’s three banks were open on Monday. The Bank of Ireland in Castle Street closed down completely, while the Bank of Ireland in Abbey Square remained temporarily closed, and the AIB in Slaney Place advised customers to telephone for service.

In New Ross, where Bank of Ireland manager Brendan Fulham caused a stir by joining his staff on the picket the B. of I. branch bore a sign saying ‘no cash transactions’. Customers were advised to use the Pass machine, but unfortunately, it was out of order.

Over at the New Ross branch of the AIB, a sign said ‘Admittance by appointment only’.

In Wexford, the Ulster Bank and the National Irish Bank were open earlier this week, but at the Bank of Ireland, customers had to knock for entry. The AIB was closed on Monday, but resumed its policy of morning openings on Tuesday.

In Ferns, the Bank of Ireland branch closed completely as business was transferred to Enniscorthy, while in Bunclody, where the AIB branch has been closed since the beginning of the dispute, the Bank of Ireland branch also closed down.

Barry Keohane, , Regional Manager of AIB, explained that a decision was taken to ‘protect the interests of AIB customers’ on Monday by closing branches around the country.

If AIB branches had opened while the Bank of Ireland was closed, they would have been choca-bloc with customers who were not necessarily their own, he said.

He added that AIB was continuing its policy of giving a priority service to employers, ‘ in order to minimise the effect of the dispute on the community’.

AIB branches were open for business in the morning, and anyone requiring assistance in the afternoon was invited to ring for service, he explained. But a spokesman for the IBOA in Wexford said that advertisements by the banks, claiming that they were giving a comprehensive service, were completely untrue.

The small number of people who were passing the picket lines were discovering how poor the service really is, he added.

An IBOA spokesman in Enniscorthy claimed ‘ tremendous support’ from the public for the strike, but stressed the strikers were not preventing the public from entering the bank. ‘ They are free to go in if they want,’ he said.