An Post ordered to cease sorting at Co Cork premises

An Post has been ordered by Cork County Council to cease mail sorting operations at a premises in the county because it is in breach of planning regulations, following a warning letter in October.

The county council served an enforcement order on the owners of the building, Boherbue Co-operative Agriculture and Dairy Society, to cease the postal sorting operations at the unit in the north Cork town.

In a letter to An Post, the local authority said the unit had planning permission as a retail unit but not permission to operate as a postal sorting office.

An Post began sorting mail at the office in August after it consolidated sorting in the Duhallow area.

Controversial

The move has been controversial. Former Cork North West Fine Gael TD Cllr Gerard Murphy said it would lead to the closure of small post offices.

Cllr Murphy, whose wife Marian runs one of the affected post offices in Newmarket, said the sorting of mail by postmen and women in small local post offices is worth between €5,000 and €8,000.

“Postmasters get a payment from An Post for allowing postmen sort the local post in the post office and depending on the number of postmen, you could get paid between €5,000 and €8,000,” he said.

More than 20 postmen have been sorting mail in Boherbue rather than, as before, in post offices in Kiskeam, Ballydesmond and Rockchapel.

“The loss of between €5,000 and €8,000 is critical,” he said.

The letter, which was sent by the council on October 27th, sought An Post to cease all sorting operations within a week but The Irish Times understands sorting is continuing.

An Post said the co-op had applied for planning retention: “We are happy that the matter will be resolved through the regular planning channels,” said a spokesman.