Politicians not getting message

ANY post office closure is deeply disappointing, especially to the local community, but when hundreds are closing across rural Ireland something has to be radically wrong.

Over the past four years, 400 postmasters and post mistresses up and down the country closed their doors to the public. While some retired on age grounds, in most cases they felt they could no longer make ends meet on the falling income from their waning business.

For families involved with the service for decades, the effect can be traumatic. But it is matched by the social damage inflicted on local communities by the loss of yet another essential service.