Postmistress sacked after armed raid

An Post had no justifiable basis to terminate the contract of a Donegal postmistress for allegedly breaching security procedures during an armed raid, the Irish Postmasters Union has said.

IPU general secretary John Kane said Bernie Moore, who has worked in Carrigans post office since 1978, could not have averted a robbery at her premises and he alleged An Post was using security evidence gathered after the incident to support its move to terminate her contract.

Ms Moore's post office in Carrigans, close to the Donegal/Derry border, was robbed by three men on February 27th, 2009.

A gun was aimed at Ms Moore and she was told to hand over the contents of a safe, which amounted to some €100,000. She said An Post had asked her to pay back the sum.

The incident was one of a series of post office robberies linked to dissident groups at the time, others took place in Muff, Bridgend and Newtowncunningham, and prompted Fianna Fáil TD Niall Blaney to speak in the Dáil of the need for a greater Garda presence along the Border.

An Post said it did not comment on an individual case but that it could confirm that the issue in Carrigans involved ongoing failure to implement basic security arrangements. "For this reason we terminated the contract of our Postmistress in Carrigans.

"These security measures are in place for the protection of post office staff and customers. Failing to implement these measures puts all post office staff and customers at risk," it said in a statement.

Ms Moore said there was "definitely nothing more" she could have done to prevent the armed gang escaping with the money.

"I would like to say to the person who made this decision that they do not know me and that they should come to see the work I do here in Carrigans and not just see me as somebody who was robbed," she said.

Ms Moore said she was devastated that she would have to give up a job she had done since she was 16 and that she did not know how she would support her three young daughters and husband, who is out of work, once her contract ends on August 31st.

An Post has appointed a new contractor to operate the post office from September 1st.

Mr Kane said it appeared An Post management was "alluding to subsequent security audits of her office which showed up some minor deficiencies" to support its decision to replace Ms Moore.

"While these are to be regretted and may even warrant some reprimand, they cannot be used now to justify [terminating her contract]."

He said postmasters faced a constant threat of being robbed and that the possibility they could lose their job if targetted compounded their fears. "Their decision is very unfair and in our view would not be sustainable if Ms Moore was an employee rather than a contractor," Mr Kane said.