Kilmovee Post Office is a community hub – Senator Mulherin

Áine Ryan

SENATOR Michelle Mulherin, Fine Gael, has called on the Government to take action to maintain Kilmovee Post Office, which was recently closed by An Post, after the sudden death of its postmistress.
Speaking in the Seanad last week, Senator Mulherin said ‘the people of Kilmovee deserve an opportunity to retain their post office’.
“Kilmovee Community Centre has had a Post Office agency for the last 12 years, under the fine stewardship of the late Nuala Hawkins. When Nuala passed away last month, the service was withdrawn. The community in Kilmovee who were in mourning for their local Postmistress, then had to hear that there would be no replacement for her, and the service would be discontinued,” Ms Mulherin said in a statement.
She observed that Kilmovee Community Centre had ‘provided a venue for the post office for over the last decade, investing over €60,000 in what is seen as a vital community service.
“The agency was run very successfully at an approximate cost of €10 per week to An Post; the Community Centre subsidised the remainder of the cost involved. The post office is a meeting point, a place to go about daily business, catch up with neighbours and a way to keep jobs within our communities, towns and villages,” she continued.
Sudden closure
Ms Mulherin said it was difficult for older people in the community to get transport to alternative post offices. It has emerged that An Post put a notice on the door of the post-office the day after Ms Hawkins’s death to say that business was being transferred immediately to Kilkelly, which is six miles away.  
“Fine Gael remains committed to a viable post office network and is taking a number of steps to secure it. I believe the situation in Kilmovee where the post office is run at almost no cost to An Post warrants urgent attention. I know my party colleague, Minister of State for Regional Economic Development, Michael Ring, established the Post Office Hub Working Group to identify potential models under which post offices could act as community hubs, especially in rural areas,” Senator Muherin added.
Earlier this month An Post refuted reports that it plans to close 80 post offices, many of which are in rural areas. It is running at an annual loss of €12 million.
A spokesperson confirmed that its ongoing review would ‘take into account shifting demographics, the changing marketplace for services and the economics for postmasters’.
An Post has also announced that the price of postage is to significantly rise next month.