An Post have said there is no requirement for legal advice over the closure of the Lissycasey Post Office.
This week it emerged that the Lissycasey Post Office Action Group were seeking legal advice as “misleading information” was published. However, An Post have told The Clare Echo there is “No need for legal advice. The closure of Lissycasey post office and the subsequent review were carried out in accordance with the protocol drawn up to deal with decision of postmistress’ to exit from the business”.
A spokesperson for the state owned company which was founded in 1984, denied that the option of using Talty’s Mace Store in the village fell through. “Not the case that this fell through. Situation in Lissycasey was that our Postmistress sought to exit the business and, under the terms of the national agreement with the Irish Postmasters Union, we were able to facilitate that exit. Accordingly the post office closed and customers moved to Kildysart. It was not envisaged that the post office would move to an alternative local location”.
Postmistress Mary Hanrahan who retired this week said that 55 percent of her customers were elderly people. Many of these will be unable to make the journey to Kildysart but An Post maintain these individuals were factored into the decision. “An Post were conscious of all our customers in making this decision. But the imperative here was to deal with the reality that a number of Postmasters were leaving the business while still preserving a national post office network. We regret any inconvenience caused to our customers but want to stress that this action was taken to preserve a local post office network”.
When asked why the error of claiming Talty’s Store already had a post point in operation occurred, the spokesperson said. “This was a simple misstatement. Talty’s were, at the time, in contact with postpoint with a view to becoming a postpoint agent and have since done so”.
Moving the post office from Lissycasey to Kildysart is part of An Post’s national strategy, further changes are envisaged as part of this. “Six post offices in Clare have or will close during this round of consolidations. This will help ensure the sustainability and continued operation of the 32 post offices that remain in the county. All remaining Post Offices will benefit from enhanced services and products, new opening hours and an investment package aimed at improving services for customers, driving customer footfall and attracting a wider demographic to ensure that the post office is not just wanted by communities but is indeed relevant and actually used by all”.
