Increase in people in rural Ireland struggling to access banks and post office

Almost 28% of rural households had great difficulty accessing public transport in 2019, up from 23.4% in 2011.

The number of people in rural Ireland having difficulty accessing a bank or post office has increased over the last ten years.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show the proportion having problems with access to banks went from just under 10% in 2011 to 15.5% in 2019.

The figure for post offices went from 6% in 2011 to 10.4% in 2019.

The stats also reveal more than one in four (27.9%) rural households had great difficulty accessing public transport in 2019, up from 23.4% in 2011.

Rural households report increased difficulty in accessing services such as public transport or a shophttps://t.co/EDEPvTMqVM #CSOIreland #Ireland #SILC #EUSILC #SocialInclusion #PovertyIndicators #PovertyRate pic.twitter.com/5vF8welyA3

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) February 12, 2021

The stats also reveal the number of households with mobile phones and computers has increased significantly between 2004 and 2019, while those with a fixed line telephone has fallen steadily since 2004.

In 2004, 86.9% of households had a fixed line telephone in their home, falling to 59.2% in 2019.

In 2004, just one in two households (50.5%) had a computer in their home. Just under 78% of households had a computer in their home in 2019.

The proportion of households with a satellite dish has doubled since 2004, going from 28.6% to 61.1% in 2019.