A recurring theme at recent Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) farm finance meetings has been the tedious process associated with getting a loan.

Farmers who attended Monday night’s meeting in the Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny were critical of how hard it is to get in contact with banks nowadays.

Representative from AIB, PTSB, Bank of Ireland and the credit unions were in attendance on the night giving farmers advice on how to approach banks for a loan and also how to manage cash flow on farms.

While the banks displayed numbers on screen of people to contact for loan enquiries, farmers said that the personal aspect of dealing with banks is gone.

“To get an answer out of a bank is virtually impossible or to get someone to talk to... you did away with the manager and there’s no such thing now as personal contact. The manager is gone. I have to give credit unions credit for that very thing – it’s still personal.

“The banks have become impersonal and it’s become very difficult for farmers, especially at my age. You have to be a keyboard warrior now to deal with the banks – and we’re not. We never were. I think the banks have a long way to come back,” Wicklow farmer Tom Byrne said.

Farmers, Byrne added, need to be able to go into their local branch, sit down and talk to their bank manager - people who they can establish relationships with.

Another farmer was scathing of the number of branch closures around the country in recent times.

“From here to Wicklow town, going cross country, there’s no bank. You can go from Graiguenamanagh – there’s one in Bunclody – in the rest there’s none.”

Susan Maher, agri development manager with Bank of Ireland said that she doesn’t envisage any more closures.

“My phone number is up on the website. I get calls from farmers every day. Banking has changed, the landscape has changed. It is regrettable that we don’t have the same branch network that we had but we have personnel on the phone if you’ve an issue dealing online. On a daily basis they sit down and go through that online process with farmers,” she said.