ANGER AT ‘SILENCE’ OVER POST OFFICE
DEPUTY Pat Casey has lambasted An Post’s for failing to respond to local submissions regarding Laragh Post Office following its closure a year ago.
He also said that the Government’s announcement of a €30 million loan to An Post contains nothing that will secure the medium-term future of Wicklow’s post office network.
‘It’s now nearly a year since Laragh and Kilmacanogue Post Offices closed their doors. In Laragh’s case, several credible business plans were put forward, in conjunction with a very vocal and effective campaign by the community and the response from An Post is not a letter, not a post card, no response at all. They never even had the courtesy of acknowledging the local submissions that were made,’ said Deputy Casey.
‘ The Glendalough District Association lodged a business plan about setting up a community post office at the Brockagh Resource Centre. They got no response either. It was a big, local campaign and got plenty of national media attention, yet we have heard nothing from An Post,’ he said.
‘ They haven’t made any official announcement about Laragh post office but it is a year on now so we all assume it won’t be reopening. But like I said, we have heard nothing.’
When contacted by this newspaper, a spokesperson for An Post said the closure remained temporary until a national review of the post office network was complete.
The Fianna Fail TD believes that the €30 million package announced by the Government will be spent on redundancies in the postal delivery side of the business and on retirement packages for postmasters.
‘ The pensioning off of postmasters will leave vast swathes of rural areas without a post office unless the Government changes its views on rural Ireland.’
Deputy Casey maintains that the recent announcement is nothing but a short-term fix and doesn’t deal with any long term challenges facing the industry.
‘What’s needed is an operational plan that delivers a range of services for customers thereby making the post office a more viable proposition. There is fear across the county over the potential for further post offices to shut. I know there have been concerns expressed in Baltinglass and Avoca.
‘ The post office network is much more than a business. Post offices are community hubs that encourage and promote the retention and development of services generally in rural Wicklow. Post offices should be seen in terms of a public service and as such, central government should provide, where necessary, a public service obligation payment to An Post to maintain the existing network.’