This article is from page 4 of the 2012-11-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
A NEW community group that has been established in Broadford has pledged to fight the decision by An Post to close the local post office overnight without giving any advance notice to any of its customers.
This campaign cranked to life at a public meeting in the village on Thursday night last that saw the formation of the Broadford Post Office Action Group that as a first step has demanded a meeting with An Post officials.
“People want their post office back,” the action group chairman PJ Mason told The Clare People . “This post office has been in Broadford for as long as there have been rural post offices in Ireland.
“We want an urgent meeting with An Post about this. An issue arose a couple of weeks ago, which we are not privy to. Suddenly when people turned up for their pensions and welfare a few weeks ago the office was closed and they were directed to go to Tulla.
“That’s a big problem for some people, who haven’t got transport. Tulla is about ten miles from Broadford, while some people would be 20 miles away from Tulla. It’s not good enough that they should have to go all the way to Tulla,” added Mr Mason.
The public meeting was attended by over 150 people, among them officers and members of all the local organisations including, the ICMSA, IFA, local hurling and camogie clubs, ICA Guilds, the local development association, community alert groups, gun clubs, parents groups, as well as members of the boards of management of the local schools.
Local councillors present were Michael Begley (Ind), Joe Cooney (FG), Cathal Crowe (FF) and Pat Hayes (FF), while Martin O’Loghlen represented Deputy Timmy Dooley (FF).
“The post office serves a large population in a wide catchment area that includes all of the parish of Broadford, an area of Bridgetown, O’Callaghan’s Mills and Bodyke,” revealed Mr Mason, who was elected chairman of the action group on the night.
“The closure of the post office has caused people severe hardship and disruption, as the Christmas period and beyond rapidly approaches. Some people have been unable to get to Tulla, others have had to get the assistance of neighbours and friends to get them to there. We want our post office re-opened as quickly as possible,” he added.