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”.