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'It's the lifeblood of the community': Protest as rural post office to shut next week

It is one of 500 post offices deemed to be economically unviable.

A RURAL POST office in Wicklow is just one of hundreds which are facing closure across Ireland.

Like many, the demise of the Laragh/Glendalough premises has been lamented by locals who consider it to be a communal hub, a place where friends of certain generations meet, a place where many lonely people get their only human contact of the week.

But on Friday, the premises, which is located between two other businesses, will close its doors for the very last time. Protesters, including TD Pat Casey, gathered outside the establishment on Saturday morning to voice their anger at the Government’s decision to remove the office from the area.

The area welcomes over 1.2 million visitors every year to the Glendalough region and Casey said he cannot understand how they can close down the office.

“We know times are changing and a lot more people are using email but this post office, in particular, is very important. There’s a social aspect here. We need to retain this service,” Casey said.

“It’s the lifeblood of the community at times. So many people travel to this area every year. We have so many tourists coming through. It can be a busy place. What we need is for someone to take it on. Over a million people visit here every year. If you can’t make this rural post office work, then which ones will?”

In demand

However, the case of the Laragh/Glendalough premises is more contentious than a typical post office closure. It has been claimed that there was no public consultation hearing when a notice was sent that it would close in the New Year.

Casey, in a meeting with An Post representatives, said the public never got a chance to defend the service. He believes that, for this reason, there should be a delay in shutting it down.

To raise awareness, campaigners have started a ‘postcard’ campaign to drum up support. They will be sent, along with best wishes, to recovering communications minister Denis Naughten, who injured himself in a bicycle accident at the start of this year. 

GLENDA

“The end goal here is to retain the service. But at the very least we’re looking for a stay. There needs to be more thought put into what happens,” added Casey

The Government are not thinking of the social value of post offices. There’s no public transport here so people walk to get their pension or what have you. The residents of Laragh, Glendalough and Trooperstown will now have to travel at least ten kilometres to either Roundwood or Rathdrum to avail of postal services. When you consider that Laragh is adjacent to one of Ireland’s top tourist attractions the lack of imagination in generating additional services for the post office is breathtaking. If Laragh cannot retain a post office when it has 1.2 – 1.5 million potential customers – then what hope is there for any rural post office?

PCARD The postcard which will be sent to the Communications' Minister Denis Naughten

Laragh is one of 500 post offices which have been deemed as not “economically viable”.

John Daly, director of retail operations for An Post, appeared before an Oireachtas committee late last year and stated that 500 post offices are not economically viable. Using the yardstick of economic viability, they do not have a future. Another brutal statistic was reported in the past week.

Since mail volumes hit their peak in 2007, deliveries have dropped 40%. Between 2007 and 2010, 198 post office branches nationwide closed down, with a further 24 net closures between 2011 and 2014, Fora.ie reported last year.

The organisation’s own incoming chairman, Dermot Divilly, has admitted its mail business is fast becoming unsustainable.

Nevertheless, An Post hasn’t given up on returning its deliveries business to strength, looking to reinvent with new services.

“We’re not sitting here doing nothing. We are making every attempt to diversify,” Liam O’Sullivan, An Post’s director of mails operations, told Fora.

“What we’re contending with is a worldwide postal-industry decline; it’s not just happening here.”

Read: Convicted killer who ate his own faeces sentenced to community service for attack on garda >

Read: Dale Creighton killers attacked on their second day in Mountjoy >

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61 Comments
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    Mute John J. Smith
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:10 PM

    It is a disgrace that such a large rural area is deprived of it’s postoffice.

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    Mute Sinead Hanley
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:20 PM

    That’s such a pity. I use my local post office whenever I can. Paying bills, address pal etc.. I never realised (I know I should have) that you can top up your mobiles there too.

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    Mute Shawn O'Ceallaghan
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:20 PM

    No one to blame but themselves. They decided it would close down by not using it.

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    Mute Michael Clinton
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:31 PM

    @ Shawn , I suppose the same applies to the garda stations that were closed was it ?

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    Mute Nick Allen
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:41 PM

    @Michael Clinton:

    Thats a bit of a stretch now Michael.

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    Mute Mrs M
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:02 PM

    You can pay your bills , top up your phone online , if the post office was being utilised an-post wouldn’t be closing it !

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    Mute Shawn O'Ceallaghan
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 12:41 AM

    Were not talking about garda stations. Theres no reason to keep it open. Close it. Theres more effecient and cheaper ways.

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    Mute cholly appleseed
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 2:07 AM

    If the community want it so much let them pay extra to keep it open. No reason an post should make a loss because a community want it but don’t want to use it

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    Mute Willie Penwright
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 8:32 AM

    @Shawn O’Ceallaghan: They decided to close the post offices, the garda stations, the public transport and all the infrastructure when they voted FFGLB.

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    Mute CJ Stewart
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:26 PM

    This gets me..I live in rural Ireland, and I am sick listening to the city folk tell us to get out into the towns and cities…NO , why should we ? ……We are entitled to live in rural Ireland and enjoy a fundamental framework of services..of which the Post Office is one… Rural Ireland is dying in front of our eyes, and I am sick sore and tired of listening to people ranting that things are getting better .. THEY MOST CERTAINLY ARE NOT IN RURAL IRELAND..! they are getting worse..

    Central Govt has forgotten rural Ireland, the shutters are down, the buildings boarded up , very high youth unemployment and emigration, terrible transport infrastructure, lack of investment..the list go’s on and on..Go to Roscommon, and ask someone for a drink of water and listen to what they tell you ! ..but oh no..things are great, property prices are up, revenue intake is up, employment is up..the feel good factor is snow balling…..a load of Ball X !

    This country’s backbone is rural Ireland, but if we keep going like this it will be a wasteland , in areas between Dublin and the like of Sligo ..simply because it is not viable to live in the country…

    But tell me something..why send 80 refugees to Ballaghaderreen ..??? obviously rural Ireland is good for something…..and I mean nothing towards the refugees….this is directed solely at the Govt, who cut provision of fundamental services yet expect us to shoulder the likes of the refugee crisis ..I hope none of them are looking a post office….a bank.. a doctor. .or even a bus !

    59
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    Mute Marlowemallow
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:30 PM

    @CJ Stewart: Rural Ireland is the backbone of the country? You are joking right?

    Subsidised loss-making farmers are a massive burden on the Irish economy, the wheels of which turn because of the business conducted in the cities.

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    Mute Lazlo Saint Pierre
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:37 PM

    @Marlowemallow: Why are they loss-making?

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    Mute Marlowemallow
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:39 PM

    @Lazlo Saint Pierre: Because agriculture in a small country is not economically viable, hence bail outs by the taxpayer and EU grants.

    15
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    Mute CJ Stewart
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:41 PM

    @Marlowemallow: OK then ..lets just close off the M1, M2 M4, M11 etc just outside Dublin….sure whats the point !

    ..also, you seem to forget your history and the generation upon generation of rural people who made not just Dublin, but Ireland what it is today..Self interest and self servitude by people like yourself is what caused the current ruination of this country in the first place.

    24
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    Mute John Mulligan
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:43 PM

    Because people want and expect cheap food, cheaper now in relative terms than it has ever been. The only way to put cheap food on supermarket shelves, often at less than the cost of production, is to subsidise farmers.

    19
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    Mute Lazlo Saint Pierre
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:49 PM

    There is 5m people in this country, a solid market by any standard, they all have to eat. All food comes from agriculture. If it’s loss making and needs to be subsidised it hasn’t been managed very well. I don’t think people want or expect cheap food, it is what we have been given.

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    Mute winston smith
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    Jan 21st 2017, 11:57 PM

    CJ, there are as many deprived urban areas as rural areas, don’t think this is just a Dublin versus the rest issue, not at all…the refugees will eventually make their way to urban areas if they want to stay both because of rural attitudes and economic opportunities.

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    Mute Marlowemallow
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 12:44 AM

    @Fake Avast: Different climate brah, and also a wide variety of very popular cheeses.

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    Mute CJ Stewart
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 1:19 AM

    @winston smith: Winston, I fully agree..100%..but that doesn’t give the Govt the right to turn it’s back on the issue. Deprived urban areas are in a bad way, I agree, but at least they can get to a bus, drink clean water and avail of a good roads etc …..the plight of many in rural areas Ireland is dire….you are talking no garda, no shops, no post office, no bank, no buses, no taxis, no trains, no jobs, no factories, no investment, scarcity of doctors, limited heath and public services, poor roads , poor braodband, poor networks ..the only thing many have is a bloody GAA pitch ….Closing Post Offices is a BIG nail in the coffin of any rural community…

    9
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    Mute L
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 11:27 AM

    Your NOT entitled to anything in life

    2
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    Mute eastsmer #IRExit
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:00 PM

    Surely the Post Office can be combined into a local shop/pub/cafe/bookshop/library

    39
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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:50 PM

    I don’t see why not. They say they want some business to take it on. Our local post office closed and reopened in a Spar two doors down.

    25
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    Mute CJ Stewart
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 4:56 AM

    @eastsmer #IRExit: Simply not that easy…if only ..

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    Mute John Mulligan
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:48 PM

    The government isn’t closing post offices; an post is. If everybody in a locality did all their banking and related business in their local post office, it might be viable. While the loss of any infrastructure is regrettable, the root cause is often a failure by locals to use it. Trains are a good example; Irish rail can’t run empty trains on the basis that people want them there in case they might decide to use them sometime.

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    Mute Martina Flynn Fitzgerald
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 5:06 AM

    John….trains would be used more if it was affordable!

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    Mute scoop delivery
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 8:15 AM

    Whatever about post office. Trains need to be properly subsidised we require that transport for the nation be it for rural Ireland or tourism you can’t be as obtuse as you have described. Trains are not as black and white a subject

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    Mute Nick Allen
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:27 PM

    Why would tourists want a post office. If they want to argue to keep it open they should at least try an argument with some credibility.

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    Mute Marlowemallow
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:32 PM

    @Nick Allen: Exactly. I haven’t used a post-office in ten years. Why can’t these people conduct their business online like the rest of us? Post Offices are obsolete.

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    Mute Nick Allen
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:37 PM

    @Marlowemallow:

    I don’t live in rural Ireland so I can’t really comment on what or why they want a post office. However, there is no need to have a post office regardless of the amount of tourists you get. If it is a social outlet the county folk are looking for I have no problem with this but why should its provision be paid for by the postal service?

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    Mute Sinead Hanley
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:35 PM

    Marlowemallow. Aren’t we spending enough time online (says I who should be out socialising instead of on the Journal). It’s nice to do business and have a chat with an actual human. That personal connection should never become obsolete

    15
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    Mute Suzie Sunshine
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:59 PM

    Plus it gives the elderly local a a reason to get out , they trust the post office and like paying their weekly bill a over the counter . Not all elderly people are computer savy. ..

    17
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    Mute Dorothy Giselsson
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    Jan 21st 2017, 11:59 PM

    Because rural internet.is white, that’s why.

    3
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    Mute Brian MacCarthaigh
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:10 PM

    Parcel Motel should step in and open a collection point where the locals can hang around and chat about the weather.

    23
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    Mute Michael Clinton
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:29 PM

    You really don’t get it do you Brian. It’s more than just a post office. The post office provides much more than a “parcel depot”. The staff get to know locals and quite often notify the emergency services if a pensioner fails to collect or haven’t been seen in a while. The locals also get to know & trust the staff .

    30
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    Mute Adrian
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:25 PM

    I suppose if our successive FF/FG govs weren’t so wasteful with the countrys finances, rural Ireland wouldn’t be suffering so much. We badly need an alternative to FF/FG.
    We suffered the most in the financial crash, FF said it was the bankers, developers, capitalists, but FF was responsible for Financial Regulation which was non existant.
    FG wants to blame Brexit for our next disaster, but no companies will move to Ireland when we have a housing crisis and their employees have no where to live, and we have no competitive edge in the corporation tax as its already zero for alot of the affected companies.

    21
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    Mute CJ Stewart
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:34 PM

    @Adrian: …one thing this country does have Adrain, is an awful lot of empty space outside Dublin…field upon field, acre upon acre, just lying there, empty..no crops, no cattle..empty ! …imagine now one of them fields..say 1 acre, and a factory encouraged into it..say for example north Mayo,how many would that employ ?….but what incentive is there…there probably is no bank within the region, no transport within the region , no infrastructure etc …so what do we do ..ignore it and let it die…so lets ‘all go to Dublin in Green and the Green’..as the song go’s and abandon rural Ireland to the wild dogs and Connemara goats.

    11
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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:37 PM

    This is all about the banks getting total control over all our finances! Michael Noonan is all in favor of it no doubt! Keep our post offices open!

    18
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    Mute aoif g
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:48 PM

    I live in rural Ireland and have we have no post office, it’s a disgrace, have to travel half an hour to get to the closest one to pay a bill or post a letter. I am sick of hearing that they are obsolete, post offices should be as standard as a local shop. In many parts of rural Ireland the internet is awful,they won’t invest in it but expect people to use internet instead of post offices…Can’t have it every way.

    18
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    Mute Marlowemallow
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:01 PM

    @aoif g: Set up a direct debit or standing order for your bills, use email instead of posting letters, this is the 21st century.

    9
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    Mute Nick Allen
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:02 PM

    @aoif g:

    I live in Dublin and have a post office 5 mins from my house. I never cross the door of it.

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    Mute Nick Allen
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:04 PM

    @Marlowemallow:

    Re posting letters. i have one of the new An Post post boxes. They are great, the postman has a key so I don’t get and junk mail. But also, if I want to post a letter I simply put it in my own post box and the postman takes the letter and posts it for me

    10
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    Mute Marlowemallow
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:10 PM

    @Nick Allen: Makes perfect sense, and something that probably could have been introduced years ago as it’s not technology reliant.

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    Mute Andi Black
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    Jan 21st 2017, 11:13 PM

    As long as we have our parents and grandparents who want and appreciate this service. Let it be….

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    Mute Andi Black
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:30 PM

    If post offices close, that is sad, but it’s their own fault. They have had years to improve their services and because of management officials who don’t have a clue, the rural post offices are becoming a thing of the past,

    10
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    Mute Andi Black
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    Jan 21st 2017, 11:00 PM

    In recent times there has been outrage with regards to how our older population are suffering. For the old, the young, keep the post offices and libraries going. Without community, we are nothing!

    9
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    Mute Brian MacCarthaigh
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:03 PM

    @Michael Clinton:Michael, it was a bad joke. I’m totally with the locals on this one.

    9
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    Mute Joseph Caulfield
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 12:32 AM

    First they came for the banks, then the garda stations, the post offices, the small shops, the little pubs and whats left but a generation bewildered by rapid change and a government which looks the other way as another business is boarded up in rural Ireland. Will they only be satisfied when we are all living in Dublin and then we could build a big Trump wall around it and call it the pale.

    8
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    Mute eclectic25
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    Jan 21st 2017, 11:10 PM

    It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change – Charles Darwin

    Same can be applied to business, times are changing…..

    6
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    Mute Séamus Longshanks
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    Jan 21st 2017, 9:32 PM

    seems to be an issue of moderisation verses old folks. Surely there can be a compromise?

    6
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    Mute eclectic25
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    Jan 21st 2017, 11:01 PM

    “a place where friends of certain generations meet, a place where many lonely people get their only human contact of the week”.

    It might be worthwhile to set up a local community club if this is the case. A Post Office needs to make economic sense at the end of the day, its not providing social services.

    This is actually the reason I avoid going to my local one, try queue just for a stamp (why don’t they have those automated stamp machines in every post office?) you could be 30 mins while Mary pays all her bills and Teresa fills the staff in on her entire family going ons and then Teresa and Mary will stop to have a chat amongst themselves blocking the counter.

    Some people are oblivious or just think everyobe else has nothing to do all day.

    6
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    Mute Rosa Parks
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:52 PM

    Part of the war on rural Ireland. FF-FG takes us for granted.

    5
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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 1:51 AM

    Its amazing to think some people think this is a good idea letting technology take people’s livelihoods away and replacing it with machine of sorts! Same people then will be giving out stink about the amount of people that are unemployed! Just be sure you wont be in that same position in 5 to 10 years from now! We need people not machines x.

    2
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    Mute Patrick J. O'Rourke
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:33 PM

    Micromanufacturing and mail order could go a long way to keeping them open. I’ve heard of one staying viable by five local Ebayers. Yep..

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    Mute Jake Gundersonn
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 2:41 AM

    Either I’m going insane or you people are. Liberal media is very bad for Irish people’s mental health

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    Mute Ger Duffy
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    Jan 23rd 2017, 1:21 AM

    What makes a Post office viable? It is the number of transaction that happen and it is how you post master is paid. If you want your post office to stay open it is simple use it, Pay your bills, open a saving account and put money in it. buy all for one vouchers, stamps, The have the cheapest mobile bill pay and pay as you go, it can be used instead of Parcel Motel for all you internet shoppers. and last but not least in some towns it is the only bank available as you can pay in and take money out of the Ulster Bank. I am sure I have missed of loads of other transactions that can be carried out there besides it being the social hub of towns and villages up and down the country. It is not in the same league as a Garda station that had to be fully funded.

    1
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    Mute the truth
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    Jan 21st 2017, 11:50 PM

    if the postoffice is not being used it should be closed same with train lines use them or loose them .

    1
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    Mute Alan O'Rourke
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:49 PM

    Lol! How will we send our complaints about local hospitals being underfunded without a loss making, state owned body to send them from?!?

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