THE POST OFFICE HAS BEEN IN THE VAUGHAN FAMILY FOR OVER 80 YEARS IN BALLYDESMOND
A POST Office which has been in the Vaughan family in Ballydesmond for over 80 years is set to come to an end next month.
Ann Vaughan, the highly popular post mistress, will be 80 years old in March and last October she wrote to An Post giving notice that she will retire on February 28.
However, according to her son John, who works part-time in the post office and is also a full time post man with 35 years service, the only reason his mother handed in her notice was because she was assured the running of the post office would be put up for tender. But that is now not the case.
In December, she received a letter from An Post to state it was considering the future of the post office service in Ballydesmond, which could include the permanent closure of the office.
However, before any decision is made interested parties are invited to submit their views by public consultation before January 13. In coming to their decision, An Post will take account of the network coverage needs, level of business in the office, customer access to services elsewhere – travel distance etc – and capacity of neighbouring office to handle business if the office closes.
“That is not a nice letter to get after 85 years in the business. It’s like a threat,” said John Vaughan on Radio Kerry (on Thursday, January 5).
Mr Vaughan explained that the Post Office has been in his family for over 85 years. His grandfather started it in the 1930s, and it was subsequently taken over by his father. When his father died suddenly in 1985, his mother, Ann, took over the post office and ran it for 31 years. He described his mother as a “remarkable woman”.
Mr Vaughan said as he works full time as a postman and part time helping his mother, it would not be feasible or viable for him to give up being a full time post man. He said it would have been viable about four or five years ago, but now, An Post has greatly moved the goalposts.
“It won’t be passed down to my family and it’s not being put up for tender and that is the alarming thing about it. When my mother gave her notice, she was assured that it would be put up for tender. Kearney’s (Centra) in Ballydesmond are interested and it would be ideal as a post office but the option of putting it up for tender is not happening,” he said.
Mr Vaughan said there are over 900 people in the parish and 30 local businesses, including Munster Joinery which has over 1,200 workers on its books and it does all their business with Vaughan’s post office.
“An Post in Dublin do not have an idea or a clue what they are talking about,” said Mr Vaughan. He said if they shut Ballydesmond PO they will go on to shut post offices in other rural parts of North Cork.
“My mother has to retire sometime and that is being realistic but I don’t think she would have handed in her notice if she knew it wouldn’t be put up for tender,” he said.
He also said An Post are under an obligation by a European Service Order to provide a five-day service which costs €30 million per year, and the Government doesn’t contribute to it, despite it being State owned.
Asked about the reality of the Post Office closing, he readily admitted it would be a “disaster” for the people.
“We are on the main Cork –Tralee road and if Ballydesmond Post Office canot be kept open, it will just be very sad. But we will stick together and we will fight to the last and do everything which we can. We must keep rural Ireland going and rural villages going,” he said.
He said that An Post are saying that running a post office is costing money, but it’s the postmaster or postmistress would must provide their own premises, pay electricity, public liability and even pay for their own biros.
They are also only paid on commission – so the more business they do, the more they get paid.
“It’s not right to say it’s costing An Post money,” said Mr Vaughan, who said they had a shop in the post office for over 70 years, but closed it about 10 years ago, as it wasn’t viable.
He described Kearney’s in Ballydesmond as a “fab set up” for a post office and said it would fit in there perfectly.
On a positive note, it was his view that the Post Office in Ballydesmond would be kept open.
The public consultation will end on January 13, and at a later date, An Post will give their decision.
In Ballydesmond, a petition has been put in place and it is widely supported by the people in the locality.