'Sham’ consultation on Barnaderg Post Office requires Dáil investigation

DÁIL Eireann is the next port of call for a group campaigning to retain postal services in Barnaderg, with claims that a consultation process instigated by An Post last January was “nothing more than a sham”.
Over 400 people crammed into the community centre last week for a second public meeting on the issue, three months after a decision was due regarding the future of the village post office.
The meeting was called to hold both An Post and the Government to account for their failure to deliver a decision.
Six of the 14 candidates contesting the European elections for the Midlands North West constituency were among a group of 22 public representatives to address the meeting last Wednesday evening.
However, notable absentees were candidates from Fine Gael and Labour, with local senator Lorraine Higgins coming in for severe criticism for her failure to support the campaign.
Fine Gael Junior Minister Ciaran Cannon was also lambasted over what the committee called his “indifference to the issue of the rural post office network” and his failure to attend the meeting.
Invitations to both Donal Connell, An Post CEO and Pat Rabbitte TD, Minister for Communications, were declined and no representatives were sent in their place.
A motion seeking an urgent meeting with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications to investigate the consultation process was overwhelmingly backed by those at the meeting.

Read our full page report on the meeting in this week's edition