Whilst the Government will openly claim it has no agenda to close post offices, one thing that is abundantly clear is that it has no strategy to help keep them open. The Dáil debate on the Post Office Network Motion February 25th and 26th 2014 is clear evidence of this. Indeed the Government’s strategically passive approach to the post offices will ensure their failure. They feel post offices should compete with large financial institutions and big corporations such as Supervalu and Tesco and if they can then they deserve to survive. Yet again the government is supporting the big boys, the profit generators. Proving once again their intent and desire to prioritise corporations and profit over the people and communities of Ireland. The deliberate inaction of the Government, its lack of strategic commitment to support and maintain the network of post offices across the country, and its continued focus on profit before all else will result in the closure of many post offices and the ongoing demise of many towns and villages and particularly rural Ireland. In the UK, in May 2007 the Government commenced the Post Office Network Closure Programme. In 2010 Consumer Focus undertook research into the long term impact of the closure programme and the effects on individuals and communities. Devon, a deeply rural area with sparse populations (not dissimilar to many parts of Ireland) was selected as the case study area and it was established that the closure programme resulted in a significant detrimental impact on the villages, residents and small and medium sized businesses in the locality due the forced required to commit time and travel expenses in order to access essential post office services. In the majority of cases in rural areas the post office was also the village shop. Where the post office service was removed this subsequently impacted the viability of the shop and in many cases resulted in its closure leaving villages with no such facility whatsoever. (consumerfocus.org.uk/files/2011/12/Devon-knows.pdf) It is argued that the internet has resulted in the demise of the post office service and a lack of demand for what it has to offer. Whilst this may be true at a national or international level, it needs to be viewed in the local context that a local post office is considered in. Particularly in rural Ireland where broadband coverage is non-existent, poor or inconsistent at best, where the demographic is a population that grew up long before the digital age and where value is still placed on the importance of face to face human interaction, this argument carries little or no weight. Despite advances in recent years, there remains a digital divide between urban and rural Ireland. Doing business online is not an easy or realistic option for those based in many rural areas. The loss of the post office will almost certainly guarantee either the closure and financial ruin or the relocation of these businesses. This will be further exacerbated by the lack of appeal to any potential new businesses - any new opportunities will be stifled by the lack of a post office service. These factors alone will result in increased unemployment in areas that are already experiencing some of the highest rates in the country and place the burden of debt, increase poverty levels and further increase the potential of eviction, homelessness and forced emigration on affected families. These rural towns and villages are often times areas where there is little or no public transport network, where there has already been a haemorrhaging of public services with the closure of schools and garda stations. The biggest impact of these post office closures will be on the most vulnerable in these communities; parents of young children, the sick, the disabled, pensioners and those without private transport having to find alternative means in order to collect their pension or their disability benefit or their child benefit. The stark reality of this situation is potentially walk or starve! The social and economic impact on communities cannot continue to be ignored by the Government and must be given high priority. An Post must communicate its long term plan and there must be an open debate on the future of the Post Office Network that sees support from the government and a commitment to the towns, villages and communities of Ireland
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 22:49:37 +0000
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