New data shows Cork county has lost 34 post offices since 2015

Post office closures affect the elderly most of all, a Cork advocate has said, as new data shows that Cork has seen more post office closures than anywhere else in Ireland over the last decade.

Since 2015, 257 post offices have closed across the country, according to data provided to Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane, in response to a parliamentary question. Overall, there were 87 post office closures in Munster.

Cork had the largest number of post office closures, with 22 post offices in rural areas and 12 in urban areas having closed down in the last ten years.

The 34 closures in Cork were significantly higher than the amount in the next highest counties - 21 in both Dublin and Galway.

The figures were released following the announcement in May that that both Glounthaune and Crosshaven post offices would close.

Cork advocate for the elderly Paddy O’Brien told The Echo: 

“A post office plays a very important role in a community – it’s a great social outlet, people can meet their friends there and have a chat.

“It’s not good enough to put a notice on the door telling people the post office is closed and they have to go some other place, and it is the elderly who will lose out the most.” 

He discussed the 2021 closure of the Barrackton Post Office on Military Hill, saying: “That’s an area in Cork where a lot of senior citizens live, and they’d go there to draw their pension.

“People will incur expenses if they have to get taxis to the post office. I know a man who has to go to another town to draw his pension and it costs him €20 to get there every Thursday – that’s straight out of his social welfare.

“Elderly people also write letters to family and friends, they don’t all have mobile phones and the internet, and if their local post office closes they might have to walk miles to pick up a stamp.” 

Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould told The Echo: “The failure to properly fund and resource our post offices in Cork is having a detrimental impact and that’s evident in these figures.

“The closure of a post office has huge impacts on communities and the local economy. 

"It is the loss of a meeting point, secondary retail purchases and often another empty building.

“We need the government to properly invest in our post offices. We have seen closures in Glounthaune and others across Cork. These are the hub of their community and their loss is felt acutely.

“We need the minister to urgently implement a post office funding programme to prevent any more closures.”