Public hit by unnecessary bickering

ONCE again, beleaguered members of the public have become pawns in a dispute blown out of all proportion.

What began as a row over contract work at sub-offices has snowballed right across the country, resulting in the closure of GPOs in Dublin, Cork and Limerick, and hitting more than 20 other major centres.

Besides the general inconvenience, An Post was unable to pay out unemployment benefit to customers using swipe cards.