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Crùbag

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  • 4 months later...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55877539
Micheal Martin says "No"
He wasn't even consulted about invoking Article 16, apparently.
That is correct, neither were other European leaders. I said it on the Brexit chat, an absolute horrendous decision by the EU Commission but I'm sure Arlene Foster & your good self was loving it.
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On 26/09/2020 at 08:59, Jacksgranda said:

Only seeing this now. Not exactly a shock for anyone who knows the score. The revelations made during the arms crisis of 1970 already made it abundantly clear who was behind the emergence of the Provos and why. No secret on who later offered them sanctuary with no risk of extradition and never seemed to be able to locate any of their arms caches. Chances this will ever get picked up by Fleet Street? Slim to none. They only ever seem to care about Bloody Sunday.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Ulster Bank closing down their operation in the RoI. It's been on the cards, by all accounts. But less competition, naturally.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56123106

The Ulster Bank seems to be the only "big" bank that is "digging in" up here, the Northern/Danske Bank, Bank of Ireland and First Trust/AIB have all rolled back their operations. The nearest town to us had 3 banks until fairly recently, now just the one (Ulster Bank). My own bank closed its branches in both Magherafelt (which was reasonably handy for me) and Cookstown (which was also handy enough), and the nearest branch is now in Ballymena, 17 miles away, and not that handy as far as I'm concerned.

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15 hours ago, Jacksgranda said:

Ulster Bank closing down their operation in the RoI. It's been on the cards, by all accounts. But less competition, naturally.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56123106

The Ulster Bank seems to be the only "big" bank that is "digging in" up here, the Northern/Danske Bank, Bank of Ireland and First Trust/AIB have all rolled back their operations. The nearest town to us had 3 banks until fairly recently, now just the one (Ulster Bank). My own bank closed its branches in both Magherafelt (which was reasonably handy for me) and Cookstown (which was also handy enough), and the nearest branch is now in Ballymena, 17 miles away, and not that handy as far as I'm concerned.

The same thing is happening all over the UK, not just in NI. There was concern in the Highlands last year about access to banking following closure of branches.

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8 hours ago, tamthebam said:

The same thing is happening all over the UK, not just in NI. There was concern in the Highlands last year about access to banking following closure of branches.

With (some) Post Offices acting as "banks" the problem has been alleviated slightly, but that doesn't help if you need a face to face meeting.

Tobermore, Bellaghy and Castledawson don't have banks (all within a 4 mile radius of our house). Magherafelt and Maghera have 4 or 5 between them, can't remember now if the BoI closed in Magherafelt the same time as the Maghera branch, when a couple of years ago they had 8 between them.

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Think this is a problem all over. I always knock back invitations to go to internet banking as eventually it has to cost jobs & branches. Younger folk are more willing to flash an ap on their phone to pay their way. Not sure how they will get on with mortgages, savings & pensions with nobody to advise face to face. Am probably a dinosaur but avoid self checkouts at supermarkets petrol stations etc for the same reason and am surprized when staff give you funny looks if you ask if they want to keep their job by cutting themselves out of the loop.

  

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32 minutes ago, peternapper said:

Not sure how they will get on with mortgages, savings & pensions with nobody to advise face to face

Do many people go into the bank nowadays to discuss mortgages? My bank made me phone up their call centre and speak to a mortgage adviser there rather than someone in the branch. Ended up going via a broker in the end, again it was all phone/email. So much is online now, what with comparison sites and MSE etc. The only time I ever needed to physically go into a bank branch was the increasingly rare need to pay in a cheque. Now I just take a picture of it with the bank app on my phone. Times have changed. It must be frustrating for people and businesses who primarily deal in cash though. Ultimately, banks are businesses too and if it's not financially viable for them to keep branches open, they won't. Using the post office as a place to deposit and withdraw cash from multiple banks seems to be the way things are going.

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30 minutes ago, Cyclizine said:

Do many people go into the bank nowadays to discuss mortgages? My bank made me phone up their call centre and speak to a mortgage adviser there rather than someone in the branch. Ended up going via a broker in the end, again it was all phone/email. So much is online now, what with comparison sites and MSE etc. The only time I ever needed to physically go into a bank branch was the increasingly rare need to pay in a cheque. Now I just take a picture of it with the bank app on my phone. Times have changed. It must be frustrating for people and businesses who primarily deal in cash though. Ultimately, banks are businesses too and if it's not financially viable for them to keep branches open, they won't. Using the post office as a place to deposit and withdraw cash from multiple banks seems to be the way things are going.

I just go to the post office for that.

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1 hour ago, peternapper said:

Think this is a problem all over. I always knock back invitations to go to internet banking as eventually it has to cost jobs & branches. Younger folk are more willing to flash an ap on their phone to pay their way. Not sure how they will get on with mortgages, savings & pensions with nobody to advise face to face. Am probably a dinosaur but avoid self checkouts at supermarkets petrol stations etc for the same reason and am surprized when staff give you funny looks if you ask if they want to keep their job by cutting themselves out of the loop.

  

It all started with Farming when machines took over

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Ulster Bank closing down their operation in the RoI. It's been on the cards, by all accounts. But less competition, naturally.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56123106
The Ulster Bank seems to be the only "big" bank that is "digging in" up here, the Northern/Danske Bank, Bank of Ireland and First Trust/AIB have all rolled back their operations. The nearest town to us had 3 banks until fairly recently, now just the one (Ulster Bank). My own bank closed its branches in both Magherafelt (which was reasonably handy for me) and Cookstown (which was also handy enough), and the nearest branch is now in Ballymena, 17 miles away, and not that handy as far as I'm concerned.


Magherafelt has a great GAA team, do you ever watch them?
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5 hours ago, Cyclizine said:

Do many people go into the bank nowadays to discuss mortgages? My bank made me phone up their call centre and speak to a mortgage adviser there rather than someone in the branch. Ended up going via a broker in the end, again it was all phone/email. So much is online now, what with comparison sites and MSE etc. The only time I ever needed to physically go into a bank branch was the increasingly rare need to pay in a cheque. Now I just take a picture of it with the bank app on my phone. Times have changed. It must be frustrating for people and businesses who primarily deal in cash though. Ultimately, banks are businesses too and if it's not financially viable for them to keep branches open, they won't. Using the post office as a place to deposit and withdraw cash from multiple banks seems to be the way things are going.

Did admit to being a dinosaur but will avoid internet banking for as long as possible. I know banks have started speaking about charging folk for having money with them, if they cant make enough to provide a service it is a poor show. As for post offices they are disappearing as well. Cash is just holding on but it may be the generation after mine before its obsolete.

 

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17 minutes ago, peternapper said:

Did admit to being a dinosaur but will avoid internet banking for as long as possible. I know banks have started speaking about charging folk for having money with them, if they cant make enough to provide a service it is a poor show. As for post offices they are disappearing as well. Cash is just holding on but it may be the generation after mine before its obsolete.

 

It's not unusual for banks elsewhere to charge you a fee for a current account, they're providing you a service.

Ultimately, technology has moved on and the need for a physical bank for many people is no longer there. Internet banking and card payments are simply more convenient.

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