Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Regional Group on bringing forward this motion. Deputy Naughten did what he could, which was a lot, when he was Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. I have been in the House since 2007 and I am like a bad record talking about post offices. I believe the Minister, if I am not wrong, was a postmaster. I could be wrong, but the Minister should understand this. There is a greater problem here, which we have had with big companies for decades. We see it now with all the big delivery vans for all the different big companies travelling up and down boreens and roads and blowing the mirrors off people’s cars. The drivers are under such pressure to deliver all of this stuff. It is destroying everything local. This has to be part of a great, big plan. Of course, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and now the Green Party, and the powers that be, will not change. It is obvious. I have come to that conclusion. I salute from the bottom of my heart na fir an phoist and the mná an phoist, the postmasters and postmistresses up and down the country who do a gallant job under such pressure. I have question marks around the union and the grubby deal its representatives did. It was a con-job. They were conned by the Government to sell out communities. They had no authority to deal on behalf of the public, so they did. Now that they have their cake, are they going to eat it? This is a perilous situation. I believe that it is part of the greater plan to close down everything small and everything beautiful in our own communities. Ní neart go cur le chéile. People work so hard. It is sad for Deputies who came up through that vein of community service. They are coming in to vote down motions like this, or they probably will not have any vote. They will not support this motion. This is strangling and suffocating anything that is small, wonderful, beautiful, and that has connectivity with the people. Na daoine óga, na daoine aosta, na daoine beaga, ordinary people simply want a modicum of services and they cannot get them. This is affecting urban as well as rural areas, but mostly rural. What is going on here is a shame. It is all about control, control, control to get rid of people off the land altogether.

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