ICMSA say disappearance of rural ATMs will further damage rural retail

THE Chairperson of ICMSA’s Farm & Rural Affairs Committee, Denis Drennan, said the decision to withdraw and decommission a raft of ATMs throughout rural Ireland was just emblematic of a larger attitude that he said was making it “harder and harder” to work and live in rural Ireland.

“There’s a real sense that al the little facilities and services that go to make our lives easier and more convenient are being stripped-out of rural districts. This is just the latest manifestation. In many parts of the country, you’d have retail businesses who wouldn’t have the turnover to justify having facilities to handle debit cards so they can only use cash. Now the ATMs that would have dispensed that cash to their customers are going and so it means having to go to larger towns to use the ATMs there – if you’re going to the larger towns to use their ATMs then you might as well do your shopping or your business in that town and that’s how the smaller towns lose their customer base. If you don’t have your own transport then you have to rely on rural public transport – Good Luck with that. And when you do go to use the ATM the temptation will be to take out more cash than previously so that you won’t have to come back again every few days. The criminals who specialise in preying on older vulnerable people in rural areas or villages will soon work this out”, said Mr Drennan.

“I’d have said that the obvious thing to do is to put ATMs in the rural post offices, but they’ve actually gone as well. It’s just another little step towards making everyday life in rural districts that little bit harder and it’s emblematic of the attitude that far too many of our public and private bodies have towards the people who live outside the urban centres”, concluded Mr Drennan.