Rural post offices - They must be sustained

ANYONE who thinks that rural post offices are just about stamps, pensions and dog licences probably lives in a house with a regular bus service, say every 15minutes, passing outside the door. Maybe a wine, sushi or tapas bar around the corner too.

The post offices, in a declining and increasingly isolated rural society, are much, much more. Their function is as much social as it is commercial. In communities where pubs have closed because you can’t drink and drive any more and where a considerable proportion of new buildings are worker dormitories for people who have jobs in far-away towns, they are a very effective foil to the solitary lives of many country people.

That is why the news that postmasters are to form an alliance with a number of social organisations to try to secure the future of post offices throughout the country is most welcome.

Rural post offices play a valuable role in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Irish people and must not be judged only on commercial criteria. They stand at the heart of many communities and must be sustained.