Sinn Féin Economy spokesperson Caoimhe Archibald said today that it is disappointing that AIB has confirmed it will continue to close branches following a meeting she had with the bank’s management today.

Caoimhe Archibald said:

“At today’s meeting I once again emphasised it is Sinn Féin’s position that there should be no bank branch closures during the pandemic and planned closures should be paused to evaluate customer behaviour post-pandemic.

“It is disappointing that AIB plans to go ahead with the closures.

“These closures come on the back of announcements by a number of other banks of branch closures.

“Sinn Féin would like to see a future banking forum so that policy makers, banks and other stakeholders can discuss issues such as banking in a digital age and how banks can best respond to serve customers and communities that rely on their services.”