Latest Donegal post office closure is 'punishing people because of where they live'

The impending closure of a local post office has been described as a “deeply damaging blow to a vulnerable rural community”

Cllr Declan Meehan has urged immediate action on Ballylar Post Office and says it’s the latest example of a broader pattern of service withdrawal from isolated areas in Donegal.

The closure mirrors that of Rathmullan Post Office, which shut its doors last year under similar circumstances. Cllr Meehan said the loss of yet another post office highlights a systemic failure to protect rural services, and that communities like Fanad are being “left behind by government policy.”

"Ballylar Post Office is far more than just a postal facility – it’s a lifeline," he says. "It allows people to collect their pensions, manage basic services, and crucially, to connect with others. For many older or isolated residents, it’s their only regular point of social contact."

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Cllr Meehan has formally written to Minister for Communications Patrick Donovan TD and Minister for Postal Policy Charlie McConalogue TD, urging them to intervene and to take meaningful steps to protect rural post office infrastructure.

"I have called on both Ministers to recognise the serious consequences of this potential closure and to engage directly with An Post to find a viable path forward," Cllr Meehan says. "The current approach is stripping services from rural areas and punishing people simply because of where they live."

"This is a coordinated erosion of our rural infrastructure," Cllr. Meehan stated. "On the one hand, government policy is diverting transactions away from local post offices by encouraging direct debit transactions of welfare payments. On the other hand, An Post uses this drop-in activity to justify cuts and closures. It's deeply unjust."

With the nearest alternative post offices located in Carrigart (16 km) and Kerrykeel (14 km), the closure will create real hardship for residents without access to private transportation, especially in a region with minimal public transportation links.

“Fanad deserves better,” Cllr Meehan concludes. “The people of this community are being told that their needs and well-being are secondary to cost-saving measures. We need to stop viewing post offices as solely commercial entities, as part of a wider profit-making structure. We need to see them for what they really are: vital public services.”