Councillors call for support for Shandon Street Post Office

CITY councillors are calling on the entire community in Cork to rally behind a campaign to save the Shandon Street Post Office from closure.

They say there are fears throughout the northside that if Shandon is allowed to close, others will soon follow. The post office is due to close before the end of the year. The stipend paid to postmaster Barry Lyne by An Post has been cut by 15% leaving him with “no alternative” but to close.

An Post says they have advertised for a new branch on the street but that it received no applications.

Solidarity councillor Fiona Ryan described the situation as ‘unacceptable in 2018.’

“If Shandon Street is allowed to close, what will happen to Blarney Street? Or North Main Street?” she said.

Her sentiment was backed by Sinn Féin’s Thomas Gould, who said it’s that the post office is the latest in a long line of amenities to face closure in the area.

“Banks, post offices and doctors surgeries are all closing and nothing is coming in to replace them,” he said.

Former Lord Mayor Tony Fitzgerald said that the potential closure is part of a wider change in communities throughout the city.

“People used to walk from the northside down Shandon Street, North Main Street and into town to do their shopping. That isn’t the case anymore,” he said