Tag Archives: rural post offices

THERE has been a mixed reaction in Clare to a government pledge of €10 million annually over three years to support the post office network. Tom O’Callaghan from the Independent Postmasters’ Group said “one battle has been won but not the war”, to provide a long-term sustainable future for post offices. Mr O’Callaghan stressed there must be a focus on new products, capital investment and government services for the network. “It is crucial that there is an immediate five-year holding plan to ensure there will be no downward revisions of post office incomes,” said Mr O’Callaghan, “otherwise there will be no network to salvage. “Community Banking must be reinvestigated and developed as a survival option in light of the global economic depression. New Zealand and Germany community banking models should be considered. “The community and social value of the network, so visibly present during the pandemic, must be recognised as a separate asset to the state, must be protected by …

Fiona McGarry and Dan Danaher A ROUND of applause was given by members of Clare County Council, at their November meeting, to a leading advocate for the protection of the rural post office network. A total of ten councillors had signed up to two motions call for the enactment of a Dáil motion passed in 2016, calling for the establishment of a post office banking service to help secure the future of rural offices. Tom O’Callaghan, Chairperson of the Independent Postmasters’ Group, a proponent of the motions was in attendance at last Monday’s meeting and, after an appeal from councillors PJ Kelly and Gabriel Keating, was allowed to address the gathering. In a letter circulated to local councillors, Tom O’Callaghan outlined the financial gravity 31 Clare Post Offices find themselves in and warned that revisions to incomes would shortly make them unviable. “I spent the first ten years of my career working in the postal service,” Councillor Keating told the meeting. …