An Post directors to take legal advice on closure

THREE directors of An Post are to seek legal advice over the company’s decision to close its parcel and courier division, SDS, with the loss of 270 jobs.

The board of management decided in July to reintegrate SDS into An Post’s mail collection and delivery operations. Only 180 of SDS’s 450 staff will be retained under the move.

Board members Patrick Compton, Jerry Condon and Patrick Davoren voted against the SDS closure, but stood by the board’s collective decision. An Post was then, and remains, in the middle of a contentious restructuring plan to stem multi-million euro losses. The SDS closure was seen as a crucial part of the plan.

“We are taking this course following the release of certain financial information by the Communications Workers’ Union,” they said in a joint statement yesterday. “This appears to cast doubt on the accuracy of the financial information upon which the board made its decision and is a matter of serious concern to us.”

An Post yesterday said it could not comment.