Armed raids hits PO owners

POST office owners are being forced out of the business because of the rising number of armed raids and are not being replaced, it was claimed yesterday.

Many managers of rural offices are elderly and are not prepared to suffer the trauma of a raid, according to the Irish Postmasters’ Union.

“I know of elderly people who have bailed out solely on the basis of a raid or a robbery,” said general secretary John Kane.

Mr Kane said many post office managers are barely surviving on the equivalent of less than the minimum wage.

Even offices with a shop attached produce marginal returns.

In those circumstances, few people are prepared to step in and take them over, said Mr Kane, who described yesterday morning’s raid in Longford as “sinister and hugely frightening.”

“It will have an impact on who wants to run a post office. They are poorly rewarded for what they do and just will not be able to suffer the trauma.”

The union is to raise the issue of security with An Post, though its members recognise there is no such thing as absolutely security as offices have to remain accessible to the public and owners do not want to live in fortresses.

Half of the near 1,400 postmasters live on the premises, making them particularly vulnerable. An Post said management has ongoing discussions on security with the union.

Between €10m and €15m has been spent on additional security measures in recent times, said An Post spokesman John Foley, who expressed annoyance that the union was even raising the issue of security in the wake of the Longford raid.

An Post admits post offices are seen as soft targets by armed robbers.

Mr Foley said, short of placing armed guards on premises or building high security fences, they can never make them absolutely secure.

The Postmasters’ Union believes more can be done, particularly in relation to updating alarms.