Locals play the waiting game as Killeigh post office just weeks from closure

Locals in Killeigh will have to wait to find out whether they will have a local post office following the retirement of current postmaster Joe Plunkett and his wife Bridget at the end of this month.

An Post advertised the opportunity on its website for a fortnight last month, with a deadline of May 28 for interested applicants.

This week a spokesperson for An Post confirmed only that there was “a measure of interest in the contract”, and said the matter “is very much live”.

A spokesperson for a committee formed in Killeigh when locals became afraid they might lose the local service said that’s as much as they know too.

“I’m not aware of how many applicants there are,” Noelle Spollen explained this week, adding that it’s now in An Post’s hands.

Questioned over how long the committee is prepared to wait without news, Noelle said that was “the burning question”.

“At the end of the day the postmaster is due to retire,” she said. “It’s leaving it very tight to have a plan in place.”

A local petition and letters of support from local businesses in favour of keeping a post office in the village have been organised.

“Ultimately it’s An Post’s decision,” Noelle said however. “We don’t have any say in the matter whatsoever.”

The current post office in Killeigh has been in the Plunkett family for generations, and is currently run by Joe and Bridget Plunkett from their home.

If the service is to continue in the village not only will a suitable person for the job have to be found, but a suitable premises too.

Locals in Killeigh previously said the May 28 deadline for applications, just two weeks after the opportunity was advertised, didn’t give potential applicants enough time.