Public meeting to be held in Donard to oppose closure of local post office

Wicklow Sinn Féin TD in conjunction with the local community of Donard have organised a public meeting to discuss the proposed closure of the local post office. The post office in Donard is one of 2 Wicklow post offices out of 159 rural post offices that face closure by An Post.

Teachta Brady said “An Post’s retirement deal is a very worrying development for rural communities and will no doubt lead to further decline of services in rural Ireland. Under An Post’s plans for Wicklow, the post offices in Donard and Coolboy face closure. I have been working alongside the community in Donard since An Post’s plans were first leaked a number of weeks ago. We are not prepared to sit back and allow a vital lifeline in Donard close.”

“As a first step in the campaign to save our rural post offices we have organised a public meeting. It will take place in Donard Community Hall on Thursday 30th August at 8pm,”

“An Post has an integral role in servicing communities, Donard and Coolboy will be seriously impacted as a result. The Government must act to save these post offices, they can’t be silent bystanders and allow the heart be ripped out of rural Ireland. Is this part of the Government’s Project Ireland 2040 plan to develop rural Ireland, by destroying rural communities and increasing rural decline with the removal of local services?”

Sinn Féin representative for West Wicklow Aidan Kinsella said “If Minister Naughten is serious about reversing rural decline then he must intervene to save these post offices from closure. A plan must be put in place to allow that post office remain in its own premises or for another local business to take it over.”

“I would encourage all communities facing a post office closure to appeal to An Post through their review mechanism which can be done in writing to review@anpost.ie or Independent Reviewer, An Post GPO, Dublin 1.”

Teachta Brady concluded “Our post office network is a vital piece of social, community as well as business infrastructure which must be protected if rural Ireland is to thrive. I would encourage members of the community to attend the meeting on Thursday evening to discuss the planned closure. A further public meeting is the be held in Coolboy area to make plans to fight the closure of the post office there.”