'A bad day for Blacklion' as post office closes 'temporarily'

The government is being urged to act to save the rural post office network and, in particular, the Blacklion Post Office, which closed 'temporarily' last Thursday, March 30, when the postmistress retired.

Cllr John Paul Feeley (FF) paid tribute to the retiring postmistress, Dympna Stewart, but expressed a fear that the local post office would not reopen.
'Our Postmistress, Dympna Stewart served the community exceptionally well over the past number of years, having worked to restore a service previously disrupted by criminal damage to the previous premises. Her work is greatly appreciated the entire community. She notified An Post well in advance of her intentions and indeed served an additional six weeks beyond her notice period. However, this service is now gone and we have no indication as to when it will return, if ever. Last Thursday was a bad day for Blacklion and one that will be replicated in many rural communities,' he told the Celt.
'What has happened in Blacklion is all the more concerning given that last week it was reported that Minister of State for Rural Affairs, Michael Ring, at a Cabinet meeting passed the matter back to the Minister for Communications, Denis Naughten, so as not to have to make any decision about the future of An Post,' continued Cllr Feeley.
Referencing the Kerr Report, an internal An Post review and another report for Minister Ring, the Blacklion representative said that there are 'far too many reports'.  He added: 'It is now long past time for action to make our post office network viable and for action from Government. The one thing that is clear is that communities across Ireland, like Blacklion are suffering as the departments of Minister Humphreys and Naughten collectively fail to act.'

No decision yet made

An Post has yet to make a 'final formal decision' on the future of Blacklion Post Office.  While there is a Royal Mail post office across the bridge in Belcoo, the nearest An Post office is a 10-mile round trip to Glenfarne, Co Leitrim.
Company spokesman, Angus Laverty, said last month of the Blacklion closure: “It will close temporarily in order to give us time to make a decision in terms of the national canvass on the way to have a look at the Post Office network.
“In the intermediate time the Department of Social Protection payments will be transferred to Glenfarne. That is because you have to nominate a particular office for DSP customers. Then customers will have the opportunity to stay at Glenfarne or transfer to Dowra or any other suitable office.”
When asked if it was unlikely that Blacklion would re-open after the review, Mr Laverty said: “I wouldn't go that far. It would be wrong to make a decision on Blacklion without going through the process that we are going through at the moment, which is a national examination of the network.”