Castleisland local election area candidate Kate McSweeney has described Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s opening of a new post office in his constituency as ‘a kick in the teeth for the people of rural Ireland.’
159 Post Office Closures
“It is yet another kick in the teeth to the people of Rural Ireland to see our Taoiseach opening a new post office in a multinational supermarket chain in his own constituency. He has done this in the midst of the closure of 159 post offices that have been closed nationwide, including four in the Castleisland Electoral Area,” said Ms. McSweeney.
An Affluent Area
“There is no doubt that Castleknock has a thriving population in an affluent area and will have the best of services, but it beggars belief that in an age when the rural, and sometimes aging, population are told that these Post Office services are no longer needed, while rural customers are told to do their business on line. This is despite the fact that Dublin’s connectivity is much better than what we have in Kerry with better public transport, and ironically, much better broadband.
Survival and Sustainability
“The Post Office can mean the survival and sustainability for the local village shop. The knock on effect of its closure is that a village or town is further devalued and less attractive to live in which leads to further depopulation.
The Irish people simply feel that in order to avail of basic facilities that they need to move to the urban centres.
This is another development in the government’s willingness to let rural Ireland die”.
Rural Revival Conference
“At the Rural Revival Conference held in Castleisland last November Knocknagoshel shop keeper Kieran McAuliffe spoke passionately of his desire to retain Post Office services in the village. In the course of a video clip from the surrounding areas, Kieran echoed the belief of the local people that the closure of the service would be detrimental to the viability of the area. The same can be said for Currow, Ballymacelligott and Gneeveguilla,” Kate concluded.
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