IPU cash call to maintain post offices

POST offices which are not commercially viable but are socially essential to help prevent rural isolation should receive a Government payment to guarantee their survival, according to the Irish Postmasters’ Union (IPU).

General secretary of the IPU John Kane said there was “a very justifiable case for the provision of a public service obligation (PSO) payment by the government” in cases where a small population base meant a post office was not an economic success.

“Even the simple opportunity of being able to talk to another human being at the local post office, the local shop or the GAA club, may make all the difference as to how a person copes with a crisis in their lives,” he told the IPU’s conference over the weekend.