Fury as ESB to close 27 retail shops

THE planned closure of 27 ESB retail shops has been labelled as another nail in the coffin of communities in rural Ireland.

Opposition parties and consumer groups reacted angrily yesterday to the decision by the ESB to shut a third of its 81 shops at the end of August.

Over half of the 11 ESB shops in Cork will be closed, while the cutbacks will also affect 14 other counties, including three shops each in Donegal and Galway. Sixty permanent staff will be offered a voluntary severance package or redeployment to another ESB area of operation. However, around 30 part-time staff will be made redundant, although they will receive what one company source described as an “exit package”.

Customers reacted with shock to yesterday’s announcement with Age Action Ireland claiming elderly people living in isolated rural communities would suffer most from the cutbacks.

However, the decision came as no surprise to trade unions as the rationalisation of ESB retail operations was conducted as part of the Programme to Achieve Competitiveness and Transformation deal agreed with management in 2001.

Tony Dunne, general secretary of the ESB Officers’ Association, which represents staff at the ESB shops, said the size of the closures represented the best deal given the company originally planned to close 40 outlets as part of a rationalisation plan agreed in 2001.

Employees at the ESB shops were informed of the decision by management yesterday.

The company said the closures followed on a comprehensive review of retail operations to identify non-viable outlets.

An ESB spokesperson blamed the closures on the sharp downturn in the number of people using ESB shops to pay their bills.