Ms Phil Cooley:

I work with Age Action as an information officer. On 24 November 2016, a large queue of people were chatting outside the post office in Rialto where people went to collect pensions, disability and other social welfare payments, pay their bills and carry out banking.

A note on the door said that the post office was closed for business and offered Dolphin's Barn as an alternative. Rialto has a large number of older people and others who depend on the post office. Many with mobility issues use Rollators and Zimmer frames. Accessing Dolphin's Barn was very difficult for them. They were using taxis they could not afford to get their pension. One older resident told me she would not be able to pay toward her heating this week as it went on the taxi. The closure was done without notice or any form of consultation, just a note was stuck on the door. A small group of local residents, myself included, gathered in our local community centre to form a campaign. We wrote to An Post to seek a meeting. That Saturday we started to collect signatures on a petition to reopen Rialto post office. That campaign was run every Saturday at the Rialto shops throughout Christmas.

Though we never met An Post, it was aware of our campaign as it gathered momentum. We produced banners and flyers with the help of local businesses. I thank our local elected representatives from all parties who were very supportive of the campaign and contacted An Post directly. In late January 2017, we learned that it was not An Post's intention to terminate the post office service in Rialto but it needed a new location. This was very good news and very hopeful. However, we needed to be vigilant to be sure we did get our post office back. We kept in contact with suitable businesses in the area and continued our campaigning. In early April, we learned that the Rialto Centra had been successful with the tender and the post office reopened on 12 June this year. We continued the campaign for a few weeks, urging people to use the service and return to Rialto post office.

I wanted to tell the story of our campaign as a way of acknowledging all of the local people and representatives who supported us. For more that seven months right through winter and spring, we collected signatures, ran stalls and organised meetings. Many told us we were wasting our time and the post office would never come back. While I am proud our campaign succeeded, I know similar campaigns in other areas have not. I believe that communities should not have to fight so hard to protect essential services.