Thoughts on the closure of Loughglynn Post Office.

Today is the last day of 2018 and it marks the end of an era here in Loughglynn  as the Post Office closes for the last time, sadly never to reopen. Thank you to the Coleman Family for providing the service for so long. Last August we learned the fate of this and many other post offices and at the time I wrote a column about it in the Roscommon Herald. Here are my thoughts from that time. 

I was listening to a minister that I don't really like the other morning as he spoke about the wonderful idea he was after having, “the granny grant”.    Yes, the former stockbroker and now expert on all things sport was explained to us about the great idea he had to make the Grandparents of Ireland richer by rewarding them for minding the grandchildren.  I said to myself “fair play another service for the Post Office”.

However, I did warn you a few weeks ago about silly season and that all sorts of things would be floated, everything except the Titanic I suggested. Yes, silly season when there’s no big news so we live on little rumours and ideas.

That was Wednesday roll on Thursday and people had spent the previous 24 hours laughing at the concept of the granny grant while others are wondering if they could adopt children to avail of the payment.  Regardless, I don't see it happening. The fact that Joe Duffy in his boredom decided to attack it probably didn’t help either. It really is amazing how an afternoon moan line can set the agenda for a nation. The Liveline does it well!

Then Thursday in Loughglynn saw news breaking that the local postmistress had at last seen the light and was going to retire.  She like the rest of the Irish nation has to be entitled to draw her pension and shouldn’t have to worry about running a busy financial service in a small rural village.  

In fairness, she should be in the position to experience some of Shane Ross’s granny grant, and her pension which she should draw down in peace and get the chance to spend it.

I was quite appalled to see the reaction of politicians and commentators who were speaking about the awful situation that was beginning to present itself in rural Ireland.  100 Post Offices are to close we are told. I obviously would like to see the post office remain in Loughglynn, but if that means that an Irish grandmother must be held hostage to keep the service then there is a problem.

Most people employed in providing a service to people feel an obligation to go above and beyond the call of duty.  We see the wonderful service that is provided by various public servants in rural Ireland. I feel the postmistress in a small rural post office and the principal teacher of a very small country school have a lot in common.  Both are doing their best for the community, trying to ensure that the people get the best service from them, but sadly are afraid to put themselves first, in case it might happen that they would be blamed for causing the service to be lost to the community.

There are many teachers who have spent several years of frustrated service teaching in a small school with only five or six pupils but keeping their heads down and trying to ensure the school survives so that they will not be the ones blamed for closing the school. It’s an unenviable position for them, not healthy and sadly a lot of the time the communities they think they’re helping aren’t really that pushed.

We need to differentiate between the post office service and the local provider of the service. Yes, every community should be entitled to a service, in fact, I believe more than ever that services must be available at the lowest level possible.

In my case, that’s Loughglynn, not Castlerea, Ballaghaderreen or Ballyhaunis.  However, at the same time, the people who are providing the service must be able to step away from it and retire. It’s most unfair that if a person gives up the provision of the service then it could be lost to a community. There is something fundamentally wrong with a system that locks its agents in like that.

I for one will be sad to see the post office in Loughglynn close. The post office has been an important part of our village for the entire period I have lived here. I was one of a chosen few who worked the switchboard as a young child, (not often but I did it).  I put my money into my little brown post office book, it was a centre of life in our village especially on Tuesdays and Fridays when the social welfare payments were paid out and also as people queued to use the payphone in the 1980s before the arrival of phones to most houses.  

Back in June 1899 the post office service in Loughglynn was spoken of in the House of Commons James Tully MP for Leitrim South was concerned that letters for Lough Rynn were being delayed as they were being sent to Loughglynn.  

The post office burned down in the 1950’s, and because the switchboard went up in flames a messenger had to go to Castlerea by road to get the fire brigade. It was robbed during the “troubled times” was almost robbed in the 80s, had to close for a period in June 1981 because of a burst sewerage main. The postal service was affected as were social welfare payments and the 29 phone subscribers at that time were serviced by Castlerea. All the time the mail was delivered as normal.

Those are some of the things that shaped the post office history in Loughglynn, the service has always been the centre of much that has happened locally. In my lifetime I have only known two postmistresses I coincidently mentioned Mrs. Rogers last week and Ann Coleman is our present postmistress.

An Post has confirmed that 161 postmasters have applied for voluntary retirement. It follows the announcement earlier this year of the company's post office transformation programme and a €50m investment in the post office network. They have said we will know at the end of the month what offices are closing. We’ll all just have to wait. 

I was delighted to hear An Post say that communities of over 500 people will have a post office and that over 95% of the population will be within 15km of at least one post office. We in Loughglynn have a community of many more than the 500 people they speak of, so we should see a new office being opened in the village or the general locality as the other offices in the parish have closed previously. 

I’m sure people will be saying that time moves on and that we should too. I agree we all need to move on.  However, it’s important that government doesn’t just forget about us. Now more than ever before you must bring Loughglynn and the rest of the country with you.  

Reflections on the Belfast Trial

Obviously, the big rape trial in Northern Ireland is something that everybody has thought about, spoken about, and perhaps has had a view on too. I really thought that the case would end in an acquittal purely from what I heard reported in the media. That said we only hear parts of the evidence and not a lot of the legal argument that takes place.

The trial itself appeared to have been run in a fair manner at first glance, however, if we start to look a little further into the process I believe that there are several question marks over certain things that happened.

I must preface my remarks by saying I believe in the presumption of innocence, and that it must be afforded to all people who are charged with a crime. On the island we presume all people to be innocent until the state can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person is guilty. That means if a person is not found guilty then they should not be punished or does it?

As important as the right to the presumption of innocence is my belief that victims of crime must also have rights. They must have the right to be heard, not to be punished because they were a victim of crime and to feel safe.

As the dust settles after the trial I wonder have those rights been afforded? I know that Paddy Jackson was one of the men charged with a crime and the court found him not guilty. That’s ok but lots of people are now of the opinion that Paddy Jackson did something illegal even though the court said: “No the state has failed to prove that to us beyond a reasonable doubt”.

We had protests around the country as people came out to say that they believed the victim, we see that Paddy Jackson’s legal team have issued legal proceedings against a member of the Irish senate who said that he believed the victim and that the “smug well-connected middle-class boys won out again”.  Ironically lots of people would say that was a worthy description of most male senators!

The first question I ask is it fair that the accused is named, and the world hears all about him even before there is any proof that either a crime took place, or that he was guilty of any wrongdoing.

Is it fair that complainants in rape trials in Ireland and the UK are entitled to anonymity and it is an offence to publish their identity? Yes, it is, however, it's not fair that people can attend court, discover who she is and judge her and tell everyone about her. I for one was shown pictures of a person who was supposedly the accuser in this case. This is wrong.

The entire court case revolved around respect, respect for self, respect for others and finally respect for the decision of the court. We have been presented with a narrative that because some people play a particular sport at a very high level that somehow, they are different to the ordinary Joe in the street. Maybe their value system is different but at the end of the day what’s right for me and you should be right for them and surely if it’s wrong for me it’s wrong for them too.

I agree with public protest as a right, however, I’m not sure about the protests that are going on now. We have seen rallies take place in Dublin and Belfast to express solidarity with all victims of sexual crime.

Several thousand people marched through Dublin city from Dame Street to the Department of Justice on St Stephen’s Green.

As was the case in a rally last Thursday in the city, many carried home-made placards with “I stand with her”, “I believe her” and “#MeToo” written on them.

While we might not agree with the findings of the court obviously in a civilised law abiding land we must accept that the decision of a sworn jury who have heard each and every word of the case. They really must be in a better position to decide on who is or is not guilty of a crime bearing in mind the evidence that is presented and the fact they have heard it all. Those of us who are following the case from afar are not as aware of what was presented in court.

Arising from the coverage and interest in the court case there are several issues up for discussion or clarification. One of them is the rights of people, both the victim and the accused.

How can they be protected, is it fair that a victim of a crime can be further victimised because they report a crime? Is it fair that they must give evidence in open court and have no protection such as their own representation by a solicitor etc?  If a person is accused of a crime and found not guilty is it fair that their name is tarnished forever?

Maybe the court case in the North will bring some good, some changes or even a review of how things are done. The fact that a victim has the right to make a victim impact statement in the Republic is a good thing however it’s actually a very new thing. The law like life is an evolving thing and needs to continually change and be upgraded.

Regardless of anything else at the end of the day like the referee, the decision of the jury must be accepted too.