Mayor says Bank of Ireland branch closures will leave huge void in Derry and Strabane centres

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor Brian Tierney, has expressed his regret that two Bank of Ireland branches in the City and District will close as a result of a down scaling of operations across Northern Ireland.

The Abercorn Square branch in Strabane and the city's Strand Road branch will both shut as part of the cost cutting exercise that includes 15 closures in the North and 100 across the island of Ireland.

While Mayor Tierney was disappointed that local people would be without the services of the closing branches, he welcomed confirmation by the bank that the cut backs will not lead to any compulsory redundancies.

"It is regrettable that Bank of Ireland services will be scaled back in this way as both branches were centrally located in Strabane and Derry and offered convenient banking for many homes and businesses," he said.

"While there has been a significant growth in internet banking, many customers, particularly those of an older generation still prefer the face to face contact that a branch offers them and many services such as lodgements cannot be performed online.

"I am pleased for local employees that their jobs within the organisation will be safe however many will be inconvenienced by the relocation or changes to their roles.

"The closures will leave a huge void in the centre of Derry and Strabane and we will work with the owners of the premises to have them reoccupied and populated as soon as possible."

The full list of branch closures for NI is Derry, Limavady, Strabane, Ballymena, Banbridge, Belfast (Lisburn Road), Belfast (Ormeau Road), Belfast (University Road), Crossmaglen, Downpatrick, Dungannon, Keady, Lisburn, Lisnaskea and Portadown.