This article is from page 17 of the 2006-07-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
AN POST has further deferred controversial plans to relocate mail sorting services from Sixmilebridge and Newmarket-onFergus post offices to nearby Shannon Town, a move which staff and local politicians are vehemently opposed to.
The company had notified delivery staff at both post offices that they should report for duty in Shannon on February 20 and that they would be operating from that centre in future. That move was later postponed “in the short term” by An Post, without offering any explanation to workers, while a second planned move, which staff were not even informed about, has also been deferred.
An Post now says, “It is expected that this change will be made, in co-operation with our staff, later this year.” Workers claim, however, that they were not notified of the original move. The Communications Workers Union has since become involved and has met with the company but no agreement on a move has been reached.
At present, letter and parcel post for the villages of Newmarket-on-Fergus and Sixmilebridge is sorted on site at the respective post offices. Ten delivery staff are employed between the two offices. Moving them to Shannon would see a doubling of staff at that sorting centre.
Local Councillor John Crowe says he is “totally opposed to any plan which would see a dilution of services in either village. Sixmilebridge and Newmarket are expanding all the time and, if anything, An Post should be upgrading facilities and services here. The population is growing in these areas and what we need are more, not less, services.”
Others have expressed concerns that An Post plans to close the post officers at Sixmilebridge and Newmarket-on-Fergus.
An Post has said that neither post office is at risk of closure.
“Any changes to mail collection and delivery arrangements that may result have no bearing whatsoever on post office operations in those areas,” the company has said.
In a statement this week, An Post confirmed that “in order to improve both our delivery service to business and private customers and our operational efficiency, it is planned to operate delivery services for the Shannon, Newmarket and Sixmilebridge areas out of the Shannon Delivery Services Unit.”