Irish Examiner view: Problems are of Bank of Ireland’s own making

The justice minister needs to explain how and why supposedly scarce Garda resources were mobilised so quickly to attend ATMs

Rural readers, who have seen local Garda stations vanish along with bank branch offices, will be surprised to learn that reporting a queue at a cash machine can draw a speedy Garda response. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

Before passing comment on Tuesday’s events at ATMs around the country, a basic principle must be restated.

Taking money that is not your own is unlawful, and those who took advantage of the technological chaos at Bank of Ireland to withdraw money they did not have in their accounts will have to return that money in due course.

It is entirely unsurprising, however, to see zero sympathy being expressed for Bank of Ireland in this situation.

For years, all of the Irish banks have been removing physical branches and personal interactions with staff, pushing their customers into electronic and remote banking instead. Any breakdown in that technology such as Tuesday’s creates massive problems as a result, but those problems are of the bank’s own making.

The focus on people flocking to ATMs to withdraw cash obscures the fact that Bank of Ireland customers were unable to access their own money while the bank’s app was not functioning on Tuesday — a situation with serious implications for customers.

People living in those rural areas abandoned by the banks, for instance, could be forgiven a grim chuckle at the bank’s plight. They are less likely to be amused by the statement issued by An Garda Síochána on Wednesday regarding the force’s actions on Tuesday.

There has been much discussion of the speed with which gardaí were mobilised to attend ATMs, despite the well-attested shortage in Garda numbers. In recent weeks, a public library in Cork was closed because the safety of staff and visitors could not be guaranteed due to protests by right-wing activists, yet the safety of Bank of Ireland’s cash machines could be guaranteed almost instantly by the gardaí.

On Wednesday night, a Garda statement explained that members were responding to reports of public order incidents and queues at ATMs.

Rural readers, who have seen local Garda stations vanish along with bank branch offices, will be surprised to learn that reporting a queue at a cash machine can draw a speedy Garda response.

Despite suggestions that those responses were local operational decisions, the minister for justice still needs to explain how and why supposedly scarce Garda resources were deployed so quickly on Tuesday, and whether Bank of Ireland will have to contribute financially to the cost of safeguarding its own premises.

That is far more significant than the bank’s need to recover the money taken out by customers.

Student accommodation scams

The decline in the number of rentals available as a result of the spike in Airbnbs, among other factors, has led to a variety of shocking scenarios.

When August rolls around, students all over Ireland start to fret about accommodation in the autumn, or at least they used to. With the housing crisis a year-round headache, many have no doubt tried to organise their lodgings well ahead of the beginning of term.

The decline in the number of rentals available as a result of the spike in Airbnbs, among other factors, has led to a variety of shocking scenarios. This newspaper has led the way in exposing the ongoing sex-for-rent exploitation on the part of unscrupulous landlords, for instance.

While that phenomenon is not confined to students, Threshold recently pointed to a different problem faced by those in third-level education, and overseas students in particular. The national housing charity instanced the case of a Brazilian moving into an apartment only to awaken two days later and find 12 different people in the apartment after the “landlord” had given them all keys.

Those defrauded lost all their money as those responsible absconded from the jurisdiction, and what is particularly disturbing is that this kind of crime is more common than might be imagined. Threshold stated that one in seven overseas students report such scams, a significant proportion of those coming to Ireland to study.

If this is the case then there are two separate challenges here. One is the pressing need to find accommodation, a challenge made all the harder by the commitment of housing intended for students to Ukrainian refugees, which shrinks the pool of rentals even further.

The other is a blight on Ireland’s international reputation when it comes to third-level education. If one in seven students coming to this country is being scammed on accommodation, that does not augur well for the prospects of development and expansion in this sector.

Women’s World Cup

England's Alessia Russo celebrates scoring their side's third goal of the game during the Fifa Women's World Cup semi-final match at Stadium Australia, Sydney. Picture: Zac Goodwin/PA

With the Fifa Women’s World Cup in Australia winding down ahead of Sunday’s final, the consensus appears to be that the tournament marks a watershed in the development of women’s sport. Certainly, the keen interest with which Ireland’s games were followed here indicates a new level of awareness and familiarity which bodes well for the future.

England face Spain in this weekend’s decider after an impressive 3-1 defeat of host Australia in Wednesday’s semi-final, a victory with a somewhat controversial background.

It emerged earlier this week that an Australian newspaper had sent a helicopter to spy on an England training session. The Daily Telegraph newspaper in Sydney published photographs of the England players training, accompanied by the headline, “Eleven Poms against a nation: Welcome to the jungle, Lionesses”. The obvious question to ask is why the newspaper went to the expense of a helicopter when a drone might have been a more cost-effective option, but the result showed the controversy had little impact on the England team’s preparation. Lest there be any doubt, the Irish Examiner has no plans to send a helicopter to spy on South Africa or Scotland ahead of the forthcoming Rugby World Cup.