It is feared that unless An Post and the Government change tack, many areas of the country including many communities in rural Cork, will be left without post offices.
Cork North West TD, Aindrias Moynihan recently said it’s now abundantly clear from parliamentary responses he has received from the Minister for Communications, that the Government is unwilling to block An Post’s proposals to close up to 300 post offices in rural Ireland.
“Post offices cannot be simply seen as commercial ventures operating under normal profit and loss criteria. They are much more than that. They are service hubs and meeting points for rural, and sometimes, isolated communities,” he added.
Deputy Moynihan feels that post offices are the life blood of rural communities in North Cork. For many, the harp over the door of their post office is the only visible indication of government services in their community.
“Fianna Fáil is clear that where there are post offices that are not financially viable but provide important and essential services to communities, there must be a government intervention in the form of a public service obligation (PSO) to ensure that they remain open to the public,” concluded Mr Moynihan.
