6 August 1998 Edition
Anger over postal fiasco
By Michael Pierse
Dublin SF Councillor Christy Burke has expressed the anger of the residents of Rory O'Connor House flat complex in Hardwicke Street, who have been deprived of postal services for the last three years and have again been told that An Post are unwilling to resume the service in the near future.
The complex, which houses 65 people, many of them elderly ``has been victim of a scandal so absurd that many would believe it impossible in today's `Celtic Tiger' society,'' Burke said. The postal services were withdrawn three years ago after a postman was bitten by a dog in the complex.
An Post had given a commitment to the City Manager in June that their services in the complex would resume shortly. But this week Burke received a letter from An Post Chief Executive John Hynes claiming that conditions ``have not changed to any great extent'' and that his staff were still refusing to enter the building.
This U-turn has infuriated the residents who have had to pick up their post from a local post office.
``The residents of Hardwicke Street will not accept second class citizenship. These people have already been subject to an inordinate level of depravation and poverty...the continuous absence of a service most people take for granted is utterly intolerable,'' Burke said. He has demanded that a meeting be convened between the residents, corporation and trade union representatives to resolve the problem.
Dublin SF Councillor Christy Burke has expressed the anger of the residents of Rory O'Connor House flat complex in Hardwicke Street, who have been deprived of postal services for the last three years and have again been told that An Post are unwilling to resume the service in the near future.
The complex, which houses 65 people, many of them elderly ``has been victim of a scandal so absurd that many would believe it impossible in today's `Celtic Tiger' society,'' Burke said. The postal services were withdrawn three years ago after a postman was bitten by a dog in the complex.
An Post had given a commitment to the City Manager in June that their services in the complex would resume shortly. But this week Burke received a letter from An Post Chief Executive John Hynes claiming that conditions ``have not changed to any great extent'' and that his staff were still refusing to enter the building.
This U-turn has infuriated the residents who have had to pick up their post from a local post office.
``The residents of Hardwicke Street will not accept second class citizenship. These people have already been subject to an inordinate level of depravation and poverty...the continuous absence of a service most people take for granted is utterly intolerable,'' Burke said. He has demanded that a meeting be convened between the residents, corporation and trade union representatives to resolve the problem.