Plea not to close more post offices after rise in robberies
By Ray Ryan, Agribusiness Correspondent
Saturday, May 15, 2010
AN POST was urged yesterday not to use a 67% surge in post-office robberies last year as an excuse to withdraw services from more remote areas.
Irish Rural Link (IRL) chief executive, Seamus Boland, said a quarter of rural households already report difficulty in accessing postal services, which is double the urban figure.
"The real solution is proper, co-ordinated, higher-visibility policing which will protect postmasters and the more remote post office," he said.
Mr Boland told the IRL annual conference in Killala, Co Mayo, the most effective way to deter robbers is by ensuring they are fearful of being caught, prosecuted and convicted.
"We have had lots of talk about community policing strategies but people have no idea how rural areas are policed or what steps the gardaí are taking to make best use of their resources.
"There’s no community involvement in rural policing like the Joint Policing Committees in urban areas and that has to change," he said.
Mr Boland also told the conference the effort being put into fighting lower drink-driving limits would be better spent coming up with real solutions to keep rural pubs open.
He said pubs have a major role in addressing the isolation often experienced by people in more rural areas.
"Providing transport locally that can be used by the whole community in rural areas will do more for pubs and other services than anything else," he said.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, May 15, 2010
