Gaeltacht village fights to keep post office

JOBS could be at risk if a Gaeltacht village loses its post office.

That was the stark warning from the people of Ballingeary in Co Cork last night as they launched a campaign to save the facility. Village postmaster Aidan Twomey is due to retire at the end of January. The post office has been in his family for generations.

An Post said, arising from the retirement, it decided to advertise for a contractor to provide a postal agency service in the village because it felt the level of business did not warrant a full post office service. An agency would provide the same range of services, with the exception of banking and parcels, over the counter of a shop. However, a spokesman for An Post said it had received no applications by last Friday’s deadline.