Poor security measures leave offices unsafe, warn staff

POSTMASTERS and mistresses yesterday claimed An Post security measures at post offices left them vulnerable to robbery and violence.

Callers inundated Joe Duffy’s Liveline show on RTÉ following three failed ‘tiger kidnappings’ in two days, in which armed gangs targeted postmistresses to get them to open up post offices.

Among the callers to the show was a man who kept a licensed shotgun by his bed in case of an attack on his wife, who is a postmistress.

Another caller said security timelocks on safes were 35 years old, while others claimed security measures in country post offices trailed behind those in city branches. Last night An Post branded the claims on radio as rubbish, saying the company had a 24-hour security operation and was spending €15 million on updating security equipment.

The Irish Postmasters’ Union (IPU), meanwhile, said An Post security measures were as good as those in Ireland’s banks and other financial institutions.

“The only difference is that there are 1,300 post offices, which means we have more keyholders than all the banks put together,” said IPU general secretary John Kane.

“If any of them (the robberies) had been carried through, it is highly questionable if anyone would have been able to access the money.

“The money arrangements at An Post are very sophisticated and no individual postmaster or mistress can get access to the money without the intervention of another person.”

Now the IPU is to meet An Post bosses on Monday to discuss the kidnappings and to seek assurances over security measures.

“We need to be satisfied that An Post is doing whatever it can to ensure any other arrangements that are needed are in place to minimise exposure of our members. But I’m not sure that there’s a great deal more that can be done.

“I suspect that security arrangements are as good as can be found in most (financial) institutions but we don’t want to turn post offices into fortresses,” said Mr Kane.