20 branches of Ulster Bank to close this year

Ulster Bank has announced that it will close approximately 20 branches in Ireland this year as part of a review of its services. The bank, which currently has 146 outlets in the Republic of Ireland and 90 outlets in the North, stated that it would provide further details on the closures to customers and employees "within the next few weeks". Last year, Ulster Bank announced it would be seeking 950 redundancies from its 6,000 strong workforce in Ireland, with 500 of those earmarked for the bank's retail division. Ulster Bank serves around 1.9 million personal and business customers through 236 outlets, including one on Mardyke Street in Athlone. Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns Ulster Bank has injected at least £10.8 billion into the bank since 2008 to absorb losses after it was left severely exposed to the property market downturn. RBS acquired Ulster Bank in 2000 as part of its purchase of National Westminster Bank and expanded three years later through the acquisition of the First Active building society. Ulster Bank's operating loss also widened in the first nine months of last year to £797m from £751m the same time in 2011. The Irish Bank Officials' Association will meet with the bank executives next week, having learned of the closures during a staff conference call last week. Unions representing bank workers are also planning to meet with executives of the bank seeking clarifications.