Belturbet Post Office is major sorting venue for West Cavan

The staff at the expansive sorting centre in Belturbet Post Office, which caters for all of West Cavan, have made it clear to numerous Belturbet town councillors that they are very happy working there and there are absolutely no health and safety issues. They were annoyed at the fact that councillors held a discussion at their last meeting off their own bat, without ascertaining their views. Cllr. Anthony Vesey said he was approached by a number of staff in the old Post Office complex on the Diamond following the lengthy debate in relation to the building at the previous meeting. They expressed annoyance at the fact that the councillors had not consulted with them before raising the matter. Cllr. Vesey said that the staff pointed out that they do not consider that there is any threat in terms of a health and safety in their workplace. Some of them took umbridge at the contents of the debate in the chamber and he was of the view that the councillors should be cognisant of this in the future. Cllr. Vesey said he did reiterate to the staff that the councillors were aware of the great work they were doing. He explained that the issue of the repair of the old building was discussed because it was a matter of concern to the public. Some of the chief people from An Post were actually down in the building the previous week. Tony Gorby said he was aware the staff were doing a good job. He said he was not referring to them but to the state of the building and he still held that view. John Scott pointed out that the staff do all the sorting for West Cavan and they have a tremendous amount of mail to sort everyday. Paddy Brady agreed and said that the issue was not with the staff in any way, but the look of the outside of the building. Liz McDermott wanted to know why the grass and weeds can't be removed from the spouting. The chairman John McDonald said he had spoken to some of the staff in the Post Office and they did take it personally. He said he wished to point out that a District Service Unit is housed in this building and covers the sorting of mail from Belturbet down to the outreaches of West Cavan including Dowra and right over to Redhills. They also wished to point out that a health and safety officer calls to the building every year and it has always been found to be perfectly safe. "The staff are very happy working in this building." Cllr. McDonald added: "They really stressed very strongly the point as to why we had not approached them first and asked them how they felt in the building. Hindsight is a great thing and maybe that is what we should have done and asked them how they felt about the situation." He said a letter had been written to An Post about tidying up the premises. To the best of his knowledge a different approach was taken towards getting the place tidied up the last time around. The work was done within the space of a couple of months. Cllr. Scott said there were other people around the town who had premises that were in a worse condition. "We might have to write to those people as well," he said. Cllr. Gorby noted that a full 30 days had gone past and there had been no reply from An Post and he was of the view that they should write another letter to them. The chairman John McDonald said it would be better to wait and see if there will be a reply to the original letter sent.