*Lahinch Post Office.
LAHINCH’s post master has tendered his resignation with the post office set to close in April.
Postmaster, Shane Talty has confirmed he has tendered his resignation to An Post for the contract of the post office in Lahinch which will see the closure come into effect on April 11th 2025. He confirmed that the Ennistymon office will remain open.
An Post have advertised for applicants to provide post office services in Lahinch ahead of the April closure.
It is another setback for the post office network in Clare as the post office in The Market in Ennis prepares to close this Thursday (October 31st). Presently there are thirty post offices still open in the county.
With the Lahinch post office associated with the Talty family for the past seven decades, the decision to tender the resignation was not easy, Shane said. “This has been a difficult decision and one not taken lightly. The Post Office alongside our family home on the main street has been operated by three generations of our family for over seventy years”.
He was critical of An Post while pointing out that in recent years “as business volumes declined, so has the revenue to run the service. In recent weeks An Post have withdrawn mail sorting services from both Lahinch and Ennistymon post offices. The combined lost income means I can no longer continue to operate the Lahinch office and sustain the financial losses associated. I had long flagged with An Post that the removal of mail sorting services would inevitably end the viability of the counter services in Lahinch, but they continued with this policy knowing it would close the office”.
Talty added, “I want to pay tribute to all who have worked for our family in Lahinch Post Office, current and former. They have been incredibly supportive in a challenging role. Thank you all. I wish to thank our customers for their loyalty and support over so many years. Many will feel let down at this loss of another local service, but I hope you can understand that I could not continue to sustain the financial cost of keeping the service open. The An Post service delivery model is failing and while the Government have supported the network with investment recently, it is insufficient to save these smaller rural post offices.
“As noted, An Post has invited applicants and existing retailers in Lahinch may consider it an opportunity to broaden their business. Ennistymon Post Office will remain open, albeit its sustainability has been undermined by the An Post decision to remove the mails sorting element of the business there too”.
