The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Your local Post Office is under threat...
“If life in little places dies, greater places share the loss…” WHEN contemplating the current threat to Post Offices in towns and villages across Kerry, this line by poet, Brendan Kennelly, has a profound meaning; for Post Offices have been the focal point of life for decades and should they close, an important part of community life will undoubtedly share the loss.
The biggest threat facing Post Offices today is under-utilisation. How? Well, the value, scope and capability to cater for a larger range of public services is being seriously overlooked and this is something that needs greater appreciation and protection from government.
An example of the gradual, often unseen, erosion of local Post Offices is evident in Killorglin whereas of November 2016, eight postal staff workers, based in the town, are to be relocated to Killarney which is indicative of the ongoing aim to diminish postal services to the cost of smaller centres of population. Nora accepts that while the internet and modern forms of communication are welcome, they will continue to pose a greater threat to the Post Office sector if dismissed.
For example, the core business (approximately 65%) of Killorglin Post Office is in Department of Social Protection payments (DSP). Due to a deliberate policy to steer customers in the direction of online banking - and actively encourage them to have payments made through the banks - it has seriously reduced the business output of Killorglin Post Office by 50%.
“The constant loss of social welfare customers is shocking as they are being pushed into using financial institutions instead of Post Offices,” explains Nora.
“Of course people have the right to choose where they want to do business but the political will just doesn’t appear to be there and one must ask why local Post Offices are not permitted to offer such services as Driving licences, Motor tax, Government payments, toll charges, Euro tags, and hospital charge payments. The social aspect to community life without a Post Office will have no heart and we must do our part to help preserve the local Post Office.”