‘It's the end of an era' – Major blow as the only post office in one of Ireland's most scenic spots is set to close
The last post office on the Fánaid peninsula in
Advertisement
2
Baile Láir Post Office is at risk of closing due to rising costs
Credit: RTE
2
The spot is located on Donegal's scenic Fánaid peninsula
Credit: RTE
Situated on the edge of the northwest coast, Fánaid is a remote stretch of land known for its rugged beauty, golden
Baile Láir Post Office has served this tight-knit Gaeltacht community since 1872, operated by the McElwaine
Running the post office and attached grocery shop, Wendy and Ronan McElwaine say they can no longer keep it going under the current financial pressures.
And after 150 years, the
Advertisement
READ MORE IN MONEY
The area's population has declined over the decades, and the owners said the footfall isn't enough to cover the cost of running the post office year-round.
Residents are now faced with a 15km journey to Kerrykeel or Carraig Airt for basic postal services.
Local schoolteacher Gráinne Uí Dhubhthaigh told RTÉ that the community is heartbroken, calling the likely closure a huge loss to the area.
And with
Advertisement
MOST READ IN MONEY
She said: 'People and business in the area depend on the post office. The heart is being pulled out of the area.
"If you get the Local Link bus to Kerrykeel some 20kms away, you will have to wait another 2 hours to return."
Celebrity chef closes down seaside restaurant after 16 years
Farmer Dónal Ó Siadhail told RTE that Fánaid once had 17 shops and a bustling local economy - a time when his milk rounds included a stop at the McElwaines'.
He said: 'Now there are only two or three shops in the peninsula. It is the end of an era, without a doubt.
Advertisement
"Everything is closing down"
Tourism has become more important to Fánaid in recent years, with the local lighthouse drawing thousands of visitors each
Grínne Nic Suibhne, who works at the lighthouse, said they depended on the post office to send off visitor packages and merchandise.
She said: "Now we will have to bring all that to Kerrykeel to send"
Advertisement
'VERY REAL PROSPECT'
They said: "Ballylar like most post offices in run by a Postmaster - an independent contractor who provides post office services for the people of that part of the Fanad peninsula.
"An Post has been trying to find an alternative contractor to provide post office services here. We have been actively seeking a new business partner to take on the vacant contract, advertising the vacancy and canvassing local business.
"No applications have been received to date, and we are in the process of advertising the vacant contract position a second time.
Advertisement
"We are facing the very real prospect of the post office closing in the coming months.
"It is looking like that closure will take place in October and we will transfer customers to Kerrykeel post office which is some 14km away.
"The closure, if it happens, is much regretted by An Post but right now we will continue trying to find a new contractor.'
"It is not the case, as cited in local media that some action of An Post cased the current situation.
Advertisement
"Postmasters generate their income on the basis of transactions carried out with customers to the office. Their income is fixed to that level of transactions."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
11 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Call for pensions to be able to tap into private markets
Changing pensions rules to allow investments in private markets would benefit consumers and the country, according to the CEO of one of Ireland's leading investment firms. With the pension auto-enrolment scheme set to come into place at the start of next year, the Irish pension sector is set for its most significant change in decades. However Alan Merriman, co-founder and CEO of Elkstone, wants to see a broader reform of pensions rules. "There is an opportunity for us to be much more progressive," he said, speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland. "One of the challenges we have in Ireland is our domestic economy - investing in our domestic economy, infrastructure. We're all conscious of the housing market, and pensions is a source of funding." Allowing pensions funds to tap into private investment opportunities would follow similar moves in the US and UK. US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order soon which would allow private assets to be included in 401Ks - meanwhile the British Chancellor in May announced plans to get pensions funds to invest 10% of their assets into private funds by 2030. However there may be some reluctance to do so, given the very different nature of investing in private firms and projects as opposed to publicly-listed assets like shares and bonds. Private investments can be riskier - especially when it comes to the likes of early stage companies - while the money is also likely to be out of reach for much longer. However Mr Merriman says that not opening pensions pots to other types of investment is a risk of its own. "Globally at the moment there's a much greater concentration in public equities, so it's actually more risky not to be diversifying, not to be allocating some of your money to private markets," he said. "Historically institutions have done that, it's only in recent times that retail investors are getting the opportunity to put money into private markets." He also said that pensions money was an ideal fit for the kind of longer-term thinking that is often required in private assets. "Pension money is long-term investing... private markets is long-term investing. You're getting a higher return because it's an illiquid market, it's a premium for that investing," he said. Part of the UK changes will also oblige pensions funds to allocated at least 5% of their investments towards British assets - which is seen as a way of supporting the economy and new businesses. Mr Merriman said he would like to see this rule mimiced in Ireland - and potentially expanded upon. "Here in Ireland we're disadvantaged, we don't have the deep pension industry that other countries have, we don't have the big foundations, we don't have teacher pensions like they have in Canada, he said. "We need to go further, we need to self-help, and one of the ways we can self-help is to encourage our own retail investors companies to invest in Ireland Inc. "Government money - tax-payer money - is going into support this [auto-enrolment] so the Government mandating and requiring that a certain percentage gets allocated to the Irish economy makes a tonne of sense."
RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
Tourism industry seeing 'soft' European and domestic markets
Tourism operators across the country are reporting a decline in revenue in every major overseas market this year. The CEO of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, Eoghan O'Mara Walsh, said the North American market is doing well, however, "other markets are soft" like Britain, France and Germany as well as the domestic market. "A lot of Irish people are holidaying abroad rather than holidaying at home. Overall, it is a pretty challenging year for the Irish tourism sector," Mr O'Mara Walsh said. Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Philip Boucher Hayes, he said there is a need for the Irish market to diversify as there is an over-dependence on the North American market. He said there were strong growth prospects in continental Europe, but added that there is a lot of French and German business not being picked up at the moment. He explained that matters like the weakening of the dollar and tariff fears do not suit tourism. "Tourism is uniquely exposed to external events, so the US market could be softer next year," he said. However, he said air access is strong, particularly with Aer Lingus, and there is a lot of new transatlantic air access. Dublin is used as a hub airport between the North American bloc and the European continent, which should be good for Irish tourism. "But undoubtedly, we can't depend on a strong US market in 2026. It is pretty good in 2025, but 2026 could be more challenging. Therefore, we do need to fish from other markets," he stated. Eurostat figures from last month put us as the second most expensive country in the EU. The tourism boss said that Fáilte Ireland surveys visitors as they leave Ireland, and thankfully, the majority of people still find the country value for money. "Unfortunately, the German economy, the French economy, the British economy are all struggling and therefore discretionary income is tighter, and therefore the second and third holidays is often sacrificed, and Ireland falls into that category," he said. Mr O'Mara Walsh suggested that Ireland defend and deepen its connection to the US market, but added it had to penetrate other markets. He suggested a "step change in tourism budgets" to allow us to diversify the market and "de-risk". He added that there were costs of business and competitiveness pressures on tourism businesses, and the Government could take measures to allow Irish tourism and hospitality businesses to be more competitive. Mr O'Mara Walsh said there is a lot of capacity constraints on the tourism economy at the moment. "We know there is a Dublin airport passenger cap which needs to be relieved. We know that there is proposed legislation from Government which risks denuding coastal and rural Ireland of holiday homes and self-catering properties throughout the country, a staple of the Irish tourism product," he said. "Aside from investment in what is Ireland's largest indigenous industry and biggest regional employer, there is stuff on connectivity and competitiveness that Government should do to support the sector," he added.
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- RTÉ News
Bank of Ireland's half year pre-tax profits down 33% on last year
Bank of Ireland has today reported profits before tax of €721m for the six months to the end of June, a 33% drop on the profits of €1.08 billion the same time last year, due to falling ECB rates and a €137m impairement charge. But Bank of Ireland today reaffirmed its positive medium term outlook. Its shares dropped in early Dublin trade this morning. "The profit profile for the first half of the year is very much in line with expectations - it reflects a growing Irish book but also the rate environment as it reduces," said Bank of Ireland CEO Myles O'Grady, who was speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland. "Overall profits are strong and in line with expectations - supported by a robust overall interest income - but that narrative around a growing loan book, a growing wealth business, for all banks a lower [ECB] rate does have an impact." The bank also took a €137m impairement charge in the period, relating to "loan losses" and the "evolving macroeconomic outlook". Mr O'Grady said the bank's overall asset quality remained very healthy, but the charge was an attempt to head off growing risks in some parts of the business - particularly in the US. "When I look across our portfolios, our customers are in good shape too, they're navigating the environment well and we're there to work with them," he said. "I regard that as a pre-emptive measure to capture potential risk, the work we've done here is what you would expect given some of the news flows that's come out of the US in quarter two." The bank today announced an interim dividend per share of 25 cents and reaffirmed its guidance for a "progressive" dividend per share for the full year. The lender said its net interest income in the first half of the year came to €1.67 billion. This was down 8% from €1.80 billion the same time last year, but ahead of expectations, with positive momentum across lending and deposits. It said it now expect NII of about €3.3 billion for the full year - an upgrade on its previous guidance of €3.25 billion. The bank said a key financial metric, its Return on Tangible Equity (ROTE), came to 14.8% and it also reaffirmed its full year guidance for ROTE of about 15%. Total business income of €399m for the six month period was 4% higher on last year, while customer deposits came to €105.0 billion, €1.9 billion higher than in December. The bank also said it saw strong loan growth in Ireland of €1.3 billion, driven by Irish mortgages, where the group had a 40% share of the new lending market. It said it was retaining its guidance of about 2% loan book growth for the full year. Bank of Ireland said its asset quality remains "robust" with its non-performing loan ratio reaching 2.6% at the end of June, up 40bps since December 2024, but down 30bps from the same time last year and close to multi-year lows. Bank of Ireland finance chief Mark Spain told Reuters that the US trade deal on Sunday would not alter the bank's July 17 upgrade to its forecasts for Irish economic growth and that the removal of uncertainty may offer some upside. He added that its loan book showed there were no perceptible challenges emerging from the tariffs and that the caution larger business customers had shown at the height of trade tensions in April was beginning to dissipate. Analysts at Davy Stockbrokers said the bank's upgraded net interest income forecasts point to upside to 2026 and 2027 management and consensus expectations. Analysts expect pre-tax profits to fall by 18% for 2025 as a whole, based on an average of 12 polled by LSEG SmartEstimate. Last week Bank of Ireland apologised for an oil spill at its data centre in Cabinteely, which contaminated a nearby lake. This morning Mr O'Grady said the bank was working closely with the council, the Environmental Protection Agency and the local wildlife rescue charity to "see how best we can help".
