Sir, - It was disappointing to read (May 22nd) that the reason for the possible closure of rural post offices was the loss of £3 million per annum. It seems to me that An Post have neglected a number of potentially profitable areas of business that could be exploited through these branches.
Rural villages in Ireland rarely have any of the following services: Photocopiers, fax facilities, ATM cashpoints and e-mail. All of them must be used from time to time by small businesses, farmers, private individuals or tourists. Should they have to travel to bigger towns to avail of them? All could reasonably be considered part of the post office's purpose. As the people interviewed in Saturday's piece rightly argued, the post office is the centre of communication in a village. Once it has gone, much of the life in a village goes too.
Three million pounds may be a huge loss to An Post, but it is small compared with other funding that the State and the EU have spent on rural Ireland. An Post could be subsidised to help provide these basic communications and cash facilities. Otherwise, if post offices are privatised (as was suggested by John Hynes), I hope the new owners will update their services. - Yours, etc. Mark Tottenham,
Denmark Street, Dublin 1.