The Bank of Ireland branch in Kiltimagh, Co Mayo which is closing. Photo by Michael McLaughlin According to Bank of Ireland, customers had switched over to online banking in reality, of course they would if the services were not provided on site. The banking sector, in general, has been undergoing a revamp to keep up with digital times and Bank of Ireland is no different. It is a business, even if it is still being supported by taxpayers’ money to the tune of 14pc (the State shareholding in the bank). This week, the bank reported the plans to close more than 100 branches, as well as a €1.1bn toll in impaired loans and an underlying loss of €374m for 2020 against the backdrop of Covid-19, although it added that it expects its loan-loss impairments to be significantly lower for this year.
The much-lauded chronicle of the economic and social decline of a west of Ireland town by journalist and writer John Healy, No one Shouted Stop: Death of an Irish Town was first published in 1968.