Skibbereen and Bantry post offices may be sold

SKIBBEREEN and Bantry post offices, both listed buildings, may be about to be sold, leading to fears being expressed at a local authority meeting last week that they could be downgraded.

‘Lots of people fear that Skibbereen will be closed because the building is for sale,’ Cllr Karen Coakley (Ind) said when she raised the issue at last week’s West Cork Municipal District meeting.

Her comments were made after An Post advertised a contract for ‘a new retail partner’ for the office in Skibbereen.

The buildings in Skibbereeen and Bantry have not yet appeared on any auctioneer’s listing, but the fact that both premises were commercially photographed in recent weeks has led to speculation that the advertised sale of both buildings is imminent.

The fact that An Post stated – in its advertisement for the Skibbereen contract – that preference ‘will be given to suitable candidate who is proposing to co-locate the post office with a compatible business in a suitable premises’ has redoubled fears that the historic building is to be sold.

In Bantry, the situation is unclear, but that has not stopped speculation that the iconic listed premises, constructed in 1880 on William Street, is likely to come under the hammer, and there’s talk that the ground floor portion of what was once Vickery’s Hotel could be its new base ofoperations.

In a provisional statement, issued by An Post, a spokesperson said: ‘I know we are looking for a new postmaster in Skibbereen so clearly no threat to the post office service there.’ As for Bantry, he said: ‘I know we have been contemplating a move for quite some time, so again clearly there is no loss of the post office.’

The Skibbereen post office was built in 1904, and is a listed building, but there are concerns about the condition of the building following the closure of its High Street sorting facility in November 2020.

Not all of the floor area in Skibbereen has been utilised in the intervening years, leading to speculation that the building is in a somewhat dilapidated condition.

At the municipal district meeting, Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) expressed the fear that the lack of a suitable, alternative location could mean that the prestigious post office could ‘end up in a supermarket.’

Online there has been an outcry about the possible loss of facility in its current location, claiming it to be a ‘travesty’ but others dared to speculate what would happen if no one takes up the contract with An Post.

It is understood that the current postmaster, Adrian Healy, will be retiring after 47 years of service in August.

The difficulty in this scenario is that the new person coming in is expected to provide new premises.

Questions have also been raised about what will happen to the two members of staff, and if they will retain their employment. The closing date for the receipt of applications for the Skibbereen contract is March 15th.

An official with An Post, who declined to be named, said it is important that there would be applications for the new contract.

They added that there is no question that Skibbereen would be left without a service, because the population and size of the town demands it.

The level of service in Skibbereen has, however, been diminishing.

Although the Skibbereen post office is busy, business has been declining because every single transaction is available someplace else.

In addition to the closure of the sorting office, Skibbereen – which once had 15 sub-offices – now only has three, in Ballydehob, Schull and Leap.

On Wednesday, a second spokesperson for An Post said he was not ‘aware of any action plans’ in relation to Bantry.