This article is from page 27 of the 2007-09-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 27 JPG
VITAL financial services are once again available in Kilmaley follow- ing the opening of a new credit union sub station.
Credit union staff officially opened the new substation at O’Brien’s Country Store on Friday. The station will offer a wide range of financial services including pensions, savings and loan applications to people and businesses in the area.
The station is opening on a Six month trial period and will be manned by credit union staff every Friday.
Staff at O’Brien’s will be available
to offer assistance for transactions made during the week. Shop staff will not have access to any account information, which will remain strictly confidential.
The new service 1s a welcome boost to the community. In November 2006 An Post downgraded postal services in Kilmaley from a full post office to a post point.
It came as a major blow, particularly to older members of the community. The post office fulfilled numerous functions. It allowed people to pay ESB bills, collect pension payments, children’s allowance payments and parcels.
Lawrence O’Brien, manager of
O’Brien’s Country Stores explained the impact of the closure.
“It was a very busy post office and it was a Surprise when they closed it down. We have a lot of elderly people coming in and we handle a lot of pen- sions. When the service was down- graded, people couldn’t collect their pensions directly from us. It made it hard for elderly people. They had to rely on a neighbour or a friend who was going into Ennis. Even dog li- censes and gun licenses you couldn’t do them anymore”’.
Mr. O’Brien approached the credit union four months ago about the pos- sibility of meeting the need created by the downgrading of postal serv-
eense
Although the service is operating on a trial period, he is hopeful the substation will become permanent.
“It is important for rural communi- ties like Kilmaley to have access to such services. It can be difficult for some people to travel into Ennis dur- ing the week. The credit union really responded to the idea. It would be great to see this happening in other parts of Clare”.