Broadford community goes postal

CONCERN about the future of Broadford Post Office will be discussed at a public meeting in the local community centre this Thursday night at 8.30pm.

 

 

CONCERN about the future of Broadford Post Office will be discussed at a public meeting in the local community centre this Thursday night at 8.30pm.

There were renewed calls for the re-opening of Broadford Post Office as soon as possible after Councillor Joe Cooney claimed former customers experienced delays of between 40 and 60 minutes obtaining welfare payments and other entitlements on Friday.

Councillor Cooney, one of the main organisers of this meeting, blamed the lack of notice for the requirement to present some form of identification at the designated provider in Tulla Post office as the main reason for the queues.

A notice was posted outside Broadford Post Office advising customers it was closed until further notice and stated services would be provided from Tulla Post Office last Friday week.

The Fine Gael councillor complained this notice made no reference to the requirement for customers who had to do their transactions at Tulla Post Office to provide some form of identification.

He stressed Tulla postmistress shouldn’t take any responsibility for the frustration and queues at Tulla Post Office, which weren’t helped by the lack of application forms for customers who wanted to avail of a different post office.

He criticised An Post’s lack of proper communication with its customers and noted more application forms should have been made available for those who wanted to use a post office nearer to them.

“All political parties and public representatives are welcome to attend the public meeting. Broadford Post Office serves a very large catchment area and there is a lot of concern about its future.

“I will be calling on all public representatives and residents to support the campaign for a reopening of the Broadford Post Office as soon as possible.

Concern has been expressed about the inconvenience being caused to East Clare residents by the unexpected temporary closure of Broadford Post Office on Friday.

A notice was posted outside Broadford Post Office advising customers it was closed until further notice and stated services would be provided from Tulla Post Office.

A spokesman for An Post reiterated Broadford Post Office was closed due to circumstances beyond their control. Confirming some form of identification was required for new customers, the spokesman apologised for any inconvenience that was unintentionally caused and pledged to do their utmost to ensure it wasn’t repeated again.