Madam, - Despite the rhetoric of many politicians, there is great apprehension in rural areas about the future of post offices.
With 400 post offices having closed in the past few years and more offices facing the chop, what once was the cornerstone of the community looks to be crumbling. Post offices are a vital part of the community, especially for our older generation. Post offices do not only provide useful services - they are an important social outlet. The closure of rural post offices would result in a huge void in communities.
Management in An Post are earning salaries of over €100,000, annual bonuses of 25 per cent of their salaries plus other generous perks such as life and health insurance and a company mobile phone, while postmasters and postmistresses around Ireland fight for a meagre wage with many earning as little as €10,000 annually. This is not just unfair. It shows bad leadership and abuse of power.
An Post has recently announced an after-tax profit of over €40 million, and also sold a 14.35 acre site near Naas, Co Kildare for over €107 million. It is now time for the company to put a fraction of this money into automating the remaining 400 rural post offices to enable them to offer a comprehensive range of services demanded by the public.
It will cost only €4 million. - Yours, etc,
JOHN PAUL O'SHEA, PRO, Save Lombardstown Post Office Action Committee, Laharn, Lombardstown, Mallow, Co Cork.