Diony’s personal touch will be sorely missed

JOHN ‘Diony’ O’Connor wasn’t long in business as an EBS agent in Dingle when an elderly local man (now deceased) walked into his Strand Street office, put a bag of cash on the counter and asked him to deposit the contents in an account. Diony asked the man to wait while he counted the money but the 1990 World Cup was on at the time and the customer had other business on his mind. He walked out the door leaving Diony with the instructions: “You count the money, I’m going to watch the match.”

This wouldn’t sit well with the rule-ridden banking we now have to endure, but it was the kind of very personal customer service that made the Bank of Diony a very successful EBS agency in Dingle. As regulation increased and banks cut back on their customer services, Diony’s hands-on approach came to be appreciated all the more. But having provided something of a refuge from bureaucracy for so long, ironically, it was ever-increasing bureaucracy has prompted Diony’s recent decision to retire as an EBS agent.

In order to meet increased regulatory standards Diony would have had to do a number of specialised courses. Aged 58, he felt he was a bit long in the tooth for all that, so he decided to quit the EBS. However, he will continue in his auctioneering trade and the household and commercial insurance business he runs in conjunction with Murphy & Sheehy of Denny St. Tralee.

“It wasn’t an easy decision because I’ve had very loyal supporters for the past 30 years, but increased compliance and regulation was making it very difficult to continue,” Diony told The Kerryman.

Since news of his retirement became known last week Diony has received much thanks and praise for providing a secondto-none personal service that’s all but gone in other banks. He’s happy to share the credit with his staff Clodagh Fitzgerald and Sylvia Kerins (who is transferring to EBS Tralee but with him alone rests the epiteth ‘fair play to you but f *** you’. It’s what he’s been hearing everywhere for the past week – recognition for a job well done and a clip around the ear for not doing it any longer.

Last week EBS Head of Network Relations Andrea Norton sent a letter to customers in Dingle advising them that “our agent for EBS Dingle, John O’Connor, has taken the decision to retire on March 12 and the EBS office… at Upper Green Street… will cease to operate from close of business on 9th March, 2018”.

Ms Norton thanked Diony “for the way he has represented EBS in Dingle over many years”, apologised to customers for any inconvenience and promised that EBS “will continue to provide you with a wide range of financial services from our office in Tralee”.

The assurance of a Tralee-based service hasn’t impressed all of EBS’s Dingle customers, some of whom have closed their accounts and moved their business elsewhere – notably just up the street to the credit union.

As for the man who left his money to be counted during the 1990 World Cup… as far as Diony can remember there was between €15,000 and €20,000 in the bag.