Closed bank branches to re-open on June 29 Arklow flood scheme
BANK of Ireland has announced its three rural Wicklow branches which were closed temporarily due to coronavirus will re-open on Monday, June 29
The bank’s branches in Tinahely, Carnew and Rathdrum were among the 101 nationwide which shut their doors on March 27 due to the pandemic. On Monday, the bank confirmed these branches will re-open with reduced opening honours from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Mondays to Fridays.
Councillor Pat Kennedy welcomed the announcement that the branches would re-open.
‘Having been engaging with Bank of Ireland in relation to the closure of the three Bank of Ireland branches, Rathdrum, Carnew, and Tinahely, they have now confirmed to me that they will reopen on Monday, June 29.
‘The closure of these branches has been a huge inconvenience for the people and business in and around South Wicklow and the Rathdrum, Carnew, and Tinahely areas and I fully welcome their re-opening. There was a real fear that these branches would never re-open.’
Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady had also called for the branches to reopen highlighting the impact on local businesses.
‘The continued closure is starting to impact negatively on businesses that have reopened, they can’t lodge money in the branches and the external ATM only provides an external cash withdrawal service.
‘The result is people are having to travel large distances to branches that are open to lodge money. It’s also impacting on people who need to lodge money into their account to pay bills.’
A spokesperson for Bank of Ireland told this paper last week that the bank had ‘made a number of operational changes to safeguard critical services during the pandemic, respond to a significant shift in how customers are banking, and support social distancing requirements.’
The spokesperson said 161 of the bank’s larger branches remained open alongside online and telephone banking while staff from the 101 branches temporarily shut ‘have been supporting our contact centres and online services manage high volumes of requests, as well as our larger branches where social distancing can be better maintained.
‘We’re continuing to see shifts in customer behaviour towards online banking channels, and social distancing requirements remain in place. Our focus therefore remains on protecting the prioritised services across 161 branches, telephone and online banking, while keeping all developments under active review.’
On Monday, Gavin Kelly, CEO of Retail Ireland at Bank of Ireland, said: ‘We have been monitoring and adapting our operations throughout Covid-19 to reflect customer demand and public health advice.
‘As the economy starts to reopen, which is critically important for families and businesses across Ireland, we are updating our operations over the coming weeks.
‘In line with Phase 3, we will re-open most closed branches from 29 June, while making changes to ensure that social distancing can be maintained for the safety of our customers and colleagues.
‘ATM services will also return to full operations.
‘We will also continue to offer all of our dedicated Covid-19 services for customers requiring specific support, including personal customers and businesses.
WORK to update the public realm design for the Arklow Flood Relief Scheme is due to be completed following changes to the public realm design.
A spokesperson for Wicklow County Council said that a series of measures had emerged as the preferred flood relief scheme for Arklow and the Avoca River.
The Office of Public Works and Wicklow County Council commissioned Byrne Looby PH McCarthy (BLP) and Arup to undertake engineering and environmental studies required as part of the scheme’s design.
The spokesperson said ‘following a detailed scheme options assessment process, the series of measures that will make up the emerging preferred flood relief scheme for the Avoca River, Arklow have now been identified.
A number of changes in design have resulted in the need to update the Public realm drawings which is presently being done expected completion: at the end of May.
‘Possible disposal options for the dredge material are currently being investigated.
‘Following the confirmation of the preferred flood relief scheme an Environmental Impact Statement will be prepared and submitted to An Bord Pleanala.’