An Post gets special Christmas delivery of petition with over 3000 signatures to save Phibsborough Post Office

An Post got their own special Christmas delivery this morning as Joe Costello, local Area Representatives Declan Meenagh and Marie Sherlock, local business man Richard Collis and local resident Marian Kelly delivered a petition of over 3,000 signatures to the CEO of An Post, Mr David McRedmond calling on them to reverse their decision to close the branch Post Office in Phibsborough and sub-contract the service to a private operator.

At this morning’s meeting with An Post which lasted an hour and a half Joe outlined the concerns of the local community.

“I am deeply concerned at the decision of An Post to close down its Branch Post Office in Phibsborough and contract out the postal services to a subcontractor.

“Phibsborough is a major urban village on the North Side of Dublin with significant plans for expansion. The Cross City Luas with two stops at Phibsborough opened on 9 December; planning permission for the redevelopment of the Phibsborough Shopping Centre has recently been granted; and the creation of the new campus for 24,000 Dublin Institute of Technology students in Grangegorman is in full swing.

“Many sub post offices have closed in the general area with Parnell St. Post Office closing last month.

“Phibsborough Post Office is the last remaining branch Post Office on the north side of Dublin City apart from the GPO.  It is a hub for the entire community and it anchors the footfall on the North Circular Road from St Peter’s Church to Doyle’s Corner at the traffic lights. My office is one door down from the post office and I can see at first hand on a daily basis the range of services it provides and the number of customers who avail of them.

“This is not the time to downgrade the Branch to a sub post office or to transfer the Phibsborough postal service from An Post administration to a private subcontractor.

“The nine key recommendations of the Bobby Kerr Report into the Future of the Postal Service in Ireland, (December 2016) should be implemented.  These recommendations are: Network Renewal; Basic Payment Account; Motor Tax; Financial Services Strategy; Credit Unions; SMEs; Procurement and White Labelling.   No more Branch Post Offices should be closed down but the existing ones should be retained as a critical mass to deliver on Kerr’s proposals.

“Over three thousand people have come into my office to sign a petition to maintain the status quo or have signed the petition on-line.

“An Post accepted the petition. We engaged in extensive dialogue during which we urged An Post  to listen to the concerns of their customers, to respect their wishes and to reconsider their decision to downgrade the Branch to a sub post office and privatise the administration of the service. 

“The campaign will continue into the New Year.”