PRESS STATEMENT – PRESS STATEMENT – PRESS STATEMENT

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SDLP MLA BURNS: WELCOMES U-TURN ON PARKHALL POST OFFICE

SDLP South Antrim MLA Thomas Burns has welcomed the decision by the Post Office to keep Parkhall Post Office in Antrim open, saying it was a ‘victory for common sense’.

He further added that the reversal was a good example of what could be achieved “when people work together on issues of common concern”.

He commented, “I cannot understand why Parkhall was earmarked for closure. This post office has won awards for customer service and outstanding retail performance. It is a very important part of the community and is quite clearly a profitable outlet."

He added, “While Parkhall has been saved, we must not forget that up to 96 local post offices are marked for closure across Northern Ireland. Our devolved institutions need to meet this challenge head-on. Neither the Executive as a whole, nor individual ministers, should be allowed to hide behind the convention that the Post Office is a reserved matter to be dealt with in Westminster.

“It may be, but the survival of some local communities and some small rural villages it is not. We should not just accept without question the idea that centralisation of public services is inevitable or necessary, or even cheaper in the long run.

“All over Europe, and most notably across the border, post office networks have been saved by the addition of basic financial services. The British Post Office has decided to go in the other direction, withdrawing TV licence business and abandoning the Post Office Card Account.

“The Executive should look at ways of directing public-service business to local post offices to help make them viable businesses. We can get our car tax through post offices and there is no reason why we should not be able to access a whole range of public services the same way. We need to look to other European countries for business models which would keep our post offices going.”

ENDS