Calls made for increased investment in Kilkenny post offices

The postal network was on the agenda during a Dáil debate this week

Published 12th Jul 2026, 15:00 BST Kilkenny City Post Office. Photo: Wikipedia Commons The postal network was on the agenda during a Dáil debate this week Sign up to our Kilkenny Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Kilkenny Live within your account.

TD for Carlow/ Kilkenny , John McGuinness, discussed the impact of rural post offices closures and the need for investment in Kilkenny City’s postal building during a Dáil debate this week.

During conversation about an amendment to the Postal and Telecommunication Services Act of 1983, which would allow increased funding for An Post, Deputy McGuinness welcomed the maintaining of support for the existing network, but also lamented the scores of post offices which have been lost.

“I have witnessed the closure of many post offices throughout the country, particularly those in villages and towns that are suffering from a decline in population or a decline in local services,” he said.

“We cannot turn a blind eye to this. When people lose a post office, they lose a critical part of their social infrastructure, a service and a building where they can go and meet neighbours and friends as they transact what are small transactions, generally, in the post office.”

“They can also share the news of the day, or share their views on what could or could not be done with the post office network itself. People have opinions on it, and they want their post office to stay in place,” he added.

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As well as keeping rural post offices open, Deputy McGuinness also stressed his desire to see investment put into existing buildings allowing them to make an even greater contribution to their communities.

“I think of places like, for example, the post office on High Street in Kilkenny City, which is a building that attracts quite a lot of business in its role in the post office network,” he outlined.

“However, it is also a building that should be invested in by a combination of the Government and the union contributing to a strategy that would see buildings like this enhanced and making a greater contribution to Kilkenny City, in this case, and then to look beyond that and see what investment can take place in all of the other villages and towns that either had a post office or still have one but could do with investment.”