Two Westmeath post offices set to close

An Post has confirmed that a further two post offices in rural Westmeath are set to close in the coming months.

The post offices in Rathowen and Ballinahown are set to close as part of An Post's new restructuring plans following an agreement made earlier this year with the Irish Postmasters Union (IPU) which saw 159 post masters across the country opt to retire.

The post office in Collinstown closed earlier this month following the retirement of its postmaster Bernie Conaty.

The people of Collinstown now have to travel almost ten kilometres to the post office in Delvin or over 12 kilometres to Coole to conduct their business. The nearest post office to Rathowen is Ballinalack (4.6km away), while the people of Ballinahown will have to travel to 10 kilometres to Ferbane.

An Post say that all remaining Post Offices will benefit from enhanced services and products, new opening hours and an investment package aimed at improving services for customers, driving customer footfall and attracting a wider demographic to ensure that the post office is not just wanted by communities but is indeed relevant and actually used by all. 

Debbie Byrne, Managing Director of An Post Retail thanked the postmasters who have chosen to retire for their great service to An Post and local communities over many years. She also said that An Post was committed to ensuring the sustainability and viability of the Post Office network and would move now to offer more new and innovative services to customers through the reconfigured network.

“An Post is very grateful for the contribution of the Postmasters over so many years. We will work with the communities that they have served to ensure that their needs continue to be met by An Post for the future.

“The An Post team has done painstaking work combining business and demographic data with extensive local knowledge to produce a network plan which actively supports the future of rural Ireland. We are committed to ensuring a vibrant network for all our customers through investment and the expansion of e-commerce, financial and government services to drive usage and relevancy of the post office in today’s changing environment, she added. 

“’We fully acknowledge that this process will be difficult for some customers and communities but the end result will be a strengthened, viable post office network serving the needs of our country for the future,’’ she concluded.