why are Irish people so obsessed with the Post Offices?

Tombo2001 · 01-12-2017 6:39pm

It would be quite interesting to meet someone who is actually obsessed with Post Offices.......

Chrongen · 01-12-2017 6:48pm

whisky_galore wrote: »

This. Like just rural Ireland has dispensed with the local creamery, the blacksmith and the telephone box.

Well the blacksmith has been replaced by the mechanic. Same service just different product.

Harry Palmr · 01-12-2017 7:22pm

Post Office acts as the hub of most small towns and those villages that have one. It's handy as a place you can ask about almost anything if you arrive out of the blue and are looking for someone, somewhere that is obscure. They'll know.

I'm open to correction on this but I seem to remember dole, Child Allowance etc was for a few years paid directly into bank accounts for many but the Dept discovered that a significant number of east Europeans who had been living here were collecting by flying Ryanair to collect from accounts left open when they moved back.

Since then the whole DSP interaction has changed of course so it would be hard to pull off now anyway.

ToddyDoody · 01-12-2017 7:44pm

You mean The GPO?

Because they'really a bit unbalanced.

tomwaterford · 01-12-2017 8:15pm

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

So how are the ones on the dole going to get a job then?

And how do all of them get their groceries, and pints? Because I'll guarantee that they're not doing all their shopping in the same mam'n'dad shop which hosts the post office.

Also, the people who live in villages which don't have a post office seem to cope.

I live in a area with no post office for the 5-6 miles like I said?

These lads I'm talking about walk the once or twice a week to the nearest post office,get their money and do the shopping in the small shops about there (local centra being biggest shop)....lads who are 20+ years signing despite what boards would have you believe havnt 2 penny's to scratch together

Imo eventually you'll see post offices in a corner of a petrol station etc or else they'll have to start giving dole/pension out in local primary schools etc

Phat Dick · 02-12-2017 12:14pm

I'm surprised that several posters could think an post is making a profit? Sure the reason they have been in the news so much this year about wanting to close post office's is because they aren't making a profit

professore · 02-12-2017 12:51pm

blue note wrote: »

As people say, it's not really about the actual service they provide - it's actually a social outlet for some people.

The automation of the world is a scary and sad thing. I was in the supermarket last weekend and didn't know where to look for a product so I googled it instead of asking someone as it was handier. Then went through self service because that was handier too. But that's the way the world is going, everything is being automated, you deal with people as little as possible. The world is improving in so many ways, but at great cost. If the world continues in the direction it's going in when I'm old I might get all my shopping done on-line, have it delivered by droids. All correspondence will be internet based, medical appointments will be mainly on-line.

It's a scary prospect.

That sex robot is looking better and better

Peatys · 02-12-2017 12:52pm

the_pen_turner wrote: »

its an outing to old people. a place to meet friends and catch up on local events

That's a community centre you're thinking of

professore · 02-12-2017 12:53pm

BrokenArrows wrote: »

Phat Dick wrote: »

Anytime an post try to close a post office,they're accused of killing elderly people but in most other eu countries traditional post office's are almost extinct, and social welfare payments aren't doled out in cash through post office's in other eu countries either, so how is it that elderly people in say Norway and Denmark can live their lifes happily without going to a post office to collect their pension but Irish elderly people will apparently die if they couldn't do that ?

Post offices in rural communities are rarely just post offices. They usually are part of a bigger shop.

Either way Norway/Denmark have an almost cashless society while Ireland is still living in the dark ages in a lot of places where cash is only accepted or they charge extra for a card payment.

I was in Denmark several years back and the ATM was only open during office hours. Couldn't believe it.

Phat Dick · 06-12-2017 6:25pm

lots of stories on Joe Duffy the last couple of days about elderly people who don't have a bank account to lodge their Irish water refund cheque so they want to be refunded by postal order instead.

Ubbquittious · 06-12-2017 8:47pm

Phat Dick wrote: »

lots of stories on Joe Duffy the last couple of days about elderly people who don't have a bank account to lodge their Irish water refund cheque so they want to be refunded by postal order instead.

They should have just been sent cash really. Keep it simple. What would have been better still is if they weren't made pay the water tax in the first place but this is the next best thing I suppose. Still a disgrace (Joe) that they're made pay property tax out of the little income they have.

Though would the credit union not cash it for them? Most places would have a credit union even if it's only open a few hours a week

Agricola · 06-12-2017 10:33pm

There's far worse wastage of public money than post offices. County Council motor tax offices spring to mind. Half a dozen PS lifers, sitting behind glass partitions, taking in wads of cash and doling out windscreen disks all day long. Now that is idiotic.

Ubbquittious · 06-12-2017 11:20pm

Agricola wrote: »

There's far worse wastage of public money than post offices. County Council motor tax offices spring to mind. Half a dozen PS lifers, sitting behind glass partitions, taking in wads of cash and doling out windscreen disks all day long. Now that is idiotic.

You'd think it should be possible to get a windscreen disc in the Post Office really :pac:

harry Bailey esq · 06-12-2017 11:49pm

the_pen_turner wrote: »

a place to meet friends and catch up on local events

There's one on Parnell St where people socialise, sell zimmos and catch up on local gossip. Plus the security is a lot more lax than cash in transit vans or banks, but on the right day they might have the same amount of cash in em.

whisky_galore · 07-12-2017 6:51pm

Phat Dick wrote: »

lots of stories on Joe Duffy the last couple of days about elderly people who don't have a bank account to lodge their Irish water refund cheque so they want to be refunded by postal order instead.

Do they want to be paid in £.s.d or Punts?

why are Irish people so obsessed with the Post Offices?

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