Tag Archives: post office

Last Friday week proved to be an emotional day for Gerry O’Malley, as he closed the door in Kilrush Post Office for the last time after 51 years’ service to An Post, including 15 years as a contractor. Kilrush Post Office in Francis Street, which was built in 1957, is now closed to the public for counter services apart from undelivered mail as retail services have transferred to SuperValu in the town. This building will still be used by local postmen. “A big crowd turned up to see me retire. We were told to close at 4pm because of the transition. We took photographs had a party in my house afterwards. It is a big change not having to get up for work in the morning,” he said. In an interview with the Clare Champion, Gerry said the new buzzword in An Post is co-location as they want post offices to be located in existing business premises. The 69-year-old father-of-two …

AT the monthly meeting of Clare County Council the local authority endorsed proposals from the Independent Post Masters Group, which would see community banking rolled out across the An Post network of post offices. Fianna Fáil’s PJ Kelly sought the backing of the members, saying that community banking in post offices has already been rolled out in other countries. “I’m not saying that the post office of yesterday or the post office of today should be the post office of tomorrow. No. The future post office will have to be a totally different item. It will have to be a community post office integrated with other services. “In recent times we’ve seen post offices in big shops and so on and so forth, a wonderful solution, but this goes further. It references something that is a success in other countries, community banking, in Germany and in New Zealand.” He said that under the community banking model in other countries, people …

Last Friday saw the retirement of Margaret Keane, after more than 50 years working at Kilkee Post Office, having been postmistress for 34 of them. Her retirement marks the end of an era in Kilkee, with the post office now moving into a local grocery shop. Here, Margaret reflects on a long career which saw many changes. OVER half a century ago, as a young teenager living in the Burren and a pupil at Ennis Vocational School, I could not have conceived how my life was about to change as a result of reading The Clare Champion. I was reading through the “Situations Vacant” column and I came across an ad which caught my eye. It was for a 15-year-old girl wanted to train in a busy post office. I did not know where in Clare the post office was located, as it only listed a box number. I wasn’t really looking for a job at the time as I …

IT is the end of one era – and the beginning of another – in Kilkee with the moving of the coastal town’s post office to brand new location. On Friday, Margaret Keane will retire as post mistress in Kilkee, having worked there for over 50 years, and the town’s stand-alone post office on O’Connell Street will come to a close. However, the postal service is set to continue in the popular seaside resort, moving to another long standing institution of the town, Haugh’s shop on O’Curry Street. The new post office will open its doors in Haugh’s on Tuesday with preparations now being finalised for the unveiling next week. Carmel Muldoon of Haugh’s explained that the retirement of Mrs Keane meant that the operation of the postal service in Kilkee went up for tender, and Haugh’s were delighted to be successful in their application. She stressed the importance of services like the post office to local communities saying, “With …

THE last woman in the country to put through a call via manual exchange has retired from An Post this past week. Mrs Florence Bugler was the postmistress at Mountshannon Post Office in 1987 when the country went fully automatic for telephone calls and she put through the last call from Dr Michael Smurfit to the then Taoiseach Charlie Haughey. Mrs Bugler began her career with An Post, when she left school to help her grandaunt Mrs Florence Veller at Mountshannon Post Office in the late 1960s. Mrs Veller suffered a stroke and was sick for a number of years and passed away in 1972. In 1974 Mrs Bugler became postmistress in Mountshannon. She really enjoyed the work, meeting people and in 1983 she married Gerard Bugler and in when the couple learned the post office in Scariff was vacant and so they applied for it and in 1990 took up the mantel. “We never looked back since, we were …

MARIE Hogan has been the friendly face that welcomed both locals and visitors alike to Kilfenora Post Office for 18 years.On Friday, her tenure as postmistress came to an end with the closure of the North Clare outlet for An Post services. Despite a strong public campaign last year to save several rural post office around the county, some have closed and the day of reckoning has finally arrived for Kilfenora. Marie would have loved to remain open for business but her operation did not fit the criteria set out by An Post in its rationalisation programme. “There are about 400 people in the area served by Kilfenora Post Office but An Post dictated that there should be at least 500 people living within a 10 kilometre radius of any give office. We don’t have the numbers. I had no choice but to close; it was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. The Kilfenora people will now be …

CLARIFICATION is this week being sought about changes to the operation of Shannon Post Office. It is not thought that there is any danger of the post office closing, rather of it no longer being run by An Post, with possible future implications for staff and services. “It came to my attention that there are changes planned for the post office in Shannon and, given the importance of this essential service to Shannon Town and the Shannon area, I sought further clarification from An Post about any such changes,” said Minister of State Pat Breen. “Officials from An Post informed me that it intends to convert Shannon Post Office from being a company-run office to one run by a contractor in the coming weeks.” Mr Breen said he was assured the changes will not mean a reduction in services there. “I have been assured by An Post that the change in business model for the Shannon office will not in …

Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan has expressed her surprise at the sudden closure today (Tuesday) of the Eurospar store at Watch House Cross, a few miles outside Limerick city. The landmark shop, which is situated on strategic route to the city, has a big customer base in the Meelick/Parteen area. “The sudden closure of the Eurospar store is a blow for the workers and the local community. I understand there are approximately 40 full-time and part-time jobs at stake. There is an onus on the national operator of Eurospar stores, BWG Foods, to ensure that the workers receive full information on their current entitlements and to inform them of the future plans for the store at Watch House Cross,” the Labour TD for the area said. She said the workers have given loyal service to the store and deserved to be treated with respect. “Local people have told me that the store was trading busily and I believe that every effort …