THE APPEAL against the closure of Dunfanaghy Post Office has been rejected by An Post and the closure will now go ahead on January 31 2019.
Sinn Fein Councillor John Sheamais Ó Fearraigh, who hosted a public meeting in the town in September, expressed his sadness and disappointment at the confirmation.
The announcement comes following the decision by Independent Reviewers charged with overseeing the appeals mechanism into planned closures.
Cllr Ó Fearraigh said: “I very much regret and am saddened by the confirmation which I’ve received this morning that An Post’s decision to close the post office in Dunfanaghy has been upheld by the Independent Review team.
“As many people will be aware, I was only too happy to support the local community in Dunfanaghy when a public meeting was held some weeks where the issue was discussed and a community led response was devised in opposition to the anticipated removal of the service.
“Unfortunately, while the local community showed such great strength of spirit and united together in a bid to save the post office, it now appears inevitable that this closure will go ahead as planned.
“I have no doubt that this news will be met with much disappointment from local residents and business owners in the village, and it’s regrettable that the branch will now no longer provide services to the local community going forward.
“The government has shown complete lack of foresight in how it has dealt with this issue, and it is simply another example of an attack on rural Ireland and rural communities.
“Similarly, the question now needs to be asked about whether or not Fianna Fáil was serious when it declared some weeks ago that the closure of rural post offices would be a red line issue for the party, particularly in light of the fact that the party’s TDs are propping up the current Government.
“In my view, both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have let down rural communities such as Dunfanaghy through their complete failure to save rural services such as post offices.”
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