WE NEED OUR POST OFFICE!
POSTCARDS TO MINISTER ASK FOR FACILITY TO STAY OPEN
TWO-HUNDRED protesters demonstrated outside Glendalough Post Office in Laragh on Saturday as they demanded that An Post postpone any decision to close the service.
The post office is due to close next Tuesday, January 31.
Two-hundred specially designed postcards calling for the post office to stay open were posted to Communications Minister Denis Naughten, while schoolchildren designed their own cards making the same request.
Residents maintain that the decision to close the post office took place without a proper consultation process that would allow members of the public to have their input.
AROUND 200 people attended Saturday’s public protest calling for a postponement to the decision to close Laragh Post Office.
Protesters want to allow time for consultation and discussions with all interested groups so as to afford local residents an opportunity to demonstrate how vital the post office is to the local community.
Three public meetings have already been held, including one last night (Tuesday, January 24) in the Brockagh Resource Centre.
Two hundred specially designed postcards calling for the post office to remain open were posted to Communications Minister Denis Naughten, while local school children designed their own cards making the same demand.
Residents are particularly angered at the lack of consultation which took place prior to the announcement that the post office would be closing next Tuesday, January 31.
An Post maintain that posters were placed in the post offices in Laragh, Roundwood and Rathdrum inviting the public to have their say, but regular users insist that no such poster was ever in place at the Laragh Post Office.
Deputy Pat Casey said: ‘No one who regularly frequents the post office ever saw the poster and never at any stage had it pointed out to them. Even An Post acknowledge they never received one submission. That in itself raises questions over the so-called consultancy period.
‘If we knew in November that there was a potential for a closure then we could have done something, rather than only finding out now, leaving us with a couple of weeks to scramble around and try and keep the post office open.’
Deputy Casey also addressed the issue in the Dail, stressing that Laragh has had a post office for over 150 years.
‘An Post is about to close a Post Office in Laragh where there are 1.2 to 1.5 million visitors a year. Most businesses I know would break their necks trying to get access to such a potential market – An Post, no – close the office and do it over the Christmas period so nobody will notice,’ he said in the Dail. ‘Well the people of Laragh noticed Minister and I commend them for their swift actions in defence of this service. When I arranged a meeting with Officials from An Post, I was told that they were indeed surprised at the lack of feedback from the Public consultation period. I informed them that this was because the public were not consulted and this reason alone should delay this decision.’
People have volunteered to step in and run the post office in the short-term until a long-term solution has been evaluated.
Cllr Shay Cullen said: ‘ This post office is an essential part of the local community. If every shop, post office and Garda Station are closed then we will be left with nothing in rural locations.’
Cllr Daire Nolan works in the post office in Newtownmountkennedy and said the reported closure of Laragh Post Office cut him ‘close to the bone.’
‘I work in a family-run business but sadly when you are involved with An Post these days you are constantly looking over your shoulder.’
Cllr John Snell said a lack of public transport in Laragh would make it difficult for customers to travel to the nearest post offices in Rathdrum and Roundwood.
Cllr John Snell said that while a notice was put up in the post offices in Rathdrum and Roundwood, no one could recalls seeing a similar notice in Laragh, which he described as ‘ total madness’.
‘An Post have admitted this is the first time that not one single observation was made. It has to be re-advertised,’ he said.