'It's 20 years too early': Castletownbere residents welcome AIB's cashless U-turn

People of the West Cork town are happy they can continue to use their local bank

Castletownbere resident Richard O'Connell: 'It is nice to get your money and to know what you have in your pocket for the rest of the week, and know you are not going to overspend. Picture: Neil Michael.

Richard O’Connell survived fine without a bank until he was well into his 20s.

The 71-year-old had not needed one up until then because, since he started work aged 13, he had always used a post office savings book.

For the father of six, and his pre-decimal, pre-digital generation, and a few generations that followed, everything else was in cash.

That changed when he started getting paid by cheque.

“It annoys me that I was, in effect, forced to open a bank account,” the retired fisherman said when asked about AIB’s climbdown on its move to make 70 of its branches cashless. After sparking outcry, the bank U-turned on the move on Friday.

Richard O'Connell: 'When they started putting self-service machines into the bank, I remember saying to one of the ladies "I don't want to talk to a machine, I want to come up and talk to you".'

“Up until my mid-20s, I didn’t need them because I only dealt in cash," Mr O'Connell said.

“But after a while, I had no choice because the skippers I worked for started paying everybody in cheques and I have been with AIB in Castletownbere now for more than 40 years.” 

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But it wasn’t just the prospect — now averted — of there being a reduced ease of access coming down the tracks that bothers him.

“When they started putting self-service machines into the bank, I remember saying to one of the ladies 'I don't want to talk to a machine, I want to come up and talk to you’,” he recalled.

“She told me ‘I am sorry Richard. You will have to use a machine because one day, we won't be here’.” 

He recalls the days, up until decimalisation in 1971, of pounds, shillings and pence.

“If we had money, it was always a jingle in our pocket, not this piece of plastic that is not like money at all,” he said.

“I know it’s handy and I do use it.

“But it is nice to get your money and to know what you have in your pocket for the rest of the week, and know you are not going to overspend.

And this tap and go? I’m always worried I end up double tapping.” 

‘Feelings were very strong’

Independent West Cork councillor and Cork County Mayor Danny Collins said: “I know, as a business person myself, 80% of my turnover still is cash.

“The thing in rural areas is that most people still use cash and a lot of older people don't know much about credit cards, and they don't use them.

McCarthy's Bar owner Adrienne McCarthy: 'It's times like this you remember how important the banks are to a community like Castletownbere.' Picture: Neil Michael.

“People in the town had asked me to write to the CEO of AIB and the relevant ministers as the Cork County Mayor and this is what I would have done if the bank hadn’t reversed their decision."

He added: “Feelings were very strong because of the fact that AIB appeared to be turning its back on the very people who had to bail it out all those years ago.” 

Social interaction

Local parish priest Fr Noel Spring — whose nearest AIB would have been Bantry — is in no doubt about the impact AIB's decision would have had.

“The whole community would have been badly affected,” he said.

“It is not just about money at the end of the day.

“Going to the bank is a crucial pillar of social interaction for many people.

“So, this could have been a disaster for the people of Castletownbere.” 

Cash for businesses

McCarthy’s Bar landlady Adrienne McCarthy said a recent broadband breakdown illustrated how important cash is to her business, as her own card machine couldn’t work without the internet when it went down last Saturday night.

“We are all thrilled by the reversal of this decision,” she said, serving scores of tourists milling around inside her historic pub.

“It's times like this you remember how important the banks are to a community like Castletownbere."

Butcher Christie Collins and wife Catherine, who are both in their 60s, both think the time for a cashless society will come but now is not the right time.

“The decision was too sudden and would have really hit a lot of people of a certain generation,” Mrs Collins said.

“It’s 20 years too early.

They need to give people more time.” 

Christy and Catherine Collins of Collins Butchers: 'The decision was too sudden and would have really hit a lot of people of a certain generation.' Picture: Neil Michael.

Richard O’Connell agrees, but a few issues he has with banks remain, regardless of AIB’s U-turn.

He doesn’t like the idea of anybody else other than the landlord of his local pub, or anyone he shares a pint with there, knowing his “business”.

“So, now a person goes to the pub and has a few drinks,” he says.

“They tap and go for a pint or two, and then they decide to go to the pub the next night.

The people at the bank can see — Christ, he’s out every night. They are going to use it to spy on us, like.” 

When it is suggested that perhaps the banks might not care how many pints he has or how many times he goes to the pub, he replied: “I suppose you are right.” 

But, with a chuckle, he added: “You always like to have at least one secret, don’t you?”