This article is from page 4 of the 2009-02-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
ENNIS 1s one of the branches of First Active set to close, as part of plans to shed 750 jobs nationwide.
Ulster Bank announced last week that First Active – which is its mort- gage arm – will cease to exist. As a result, 50 branches, including Ennis, are to close by the end of the year and the First Active business will absorb into the parent company.
550 of the jobs will go in the Repub- lic, with the remainder to be shed in branches in the north of the country.
Management says it is confident that staff reductions could be achieved through voluntary redundancies.
The mayor of Ennis, Councillor Peter Considine (FF) said last night that while he was concerned at the announcement, overall, Ennis was not as badly hit as other parts of the country, in terms of the downturn.
“It is a concern, but in the times we are living in, it is to be expected,” said Cllr Considine.
“Hopefully those employed will be subsumed into the Ulster Bank mothership,” he said.
However he said that despite the negativity in the economy, there were many positives, one of which was the announcement of 50 jobs in the Shannon Free Zone yesterday.
“When you compare us to other towns and cities in the country, we are fortunate in Ennis.
‘We are not dependent on one mega employer like Ford or Intel or Wa- terford Crystal, in that our hat isn’t thrown into the one basket,’ added Cllr Considine.
“In the overall context, we are not hit as badly as other areas,” he add-
ed.
Opposition politicians have ex- pressed fears that the job losses at Ulster Bank would be followed by hundreds of other job losses, given the fragile state of the economy.
Labour is concerned that there will be further jobs cut in the banking sector.
In the wake of the Ulster Bank an- nouncement, a statement from Bank of Ireland stated, “All our businesses are under review” while Allied Irish Bank said the bank had no plans for any job cuts.