BY NUALA MCALOON

Post Office Ltd has announced that free transport will be provided from Derrygonnelly to Enniskillen until a Post Office branch can be reopened in the village.

The service commenced on Monday last, but a spokesman for Post Office Ltd insisted that it as in no way intended to be a substitute for the Post Office in Derrygonnelly, rather, it would provide an additional temporary service until a new branch can be opened.

The move follows a protest in the village on Thursday morning last which was largely organised by pensioner, Molly Cassidy.

The protesters were met by Eugene McMahon, Rural Network Manager, Post Office Ltd and supported by Alex Baird, chairman of Fermanagh District Council.

Furious over the closure of their Post Office after 60 years of service in the village, the community and pensioners in particular, came out in force to make a stand and let their voices be heard.

One such pensioner, 72-year-old Molly Cassidy, has been a driving campaigner in the fight for a Post Office to remain a focal part of the village. She said since the Office closed on the 27th July, Post Office Ltd was to blame for doing nothing to keep a service up and running, and as a result customers, particularly pensioners, had been left stranded.

"I have a car but I don't like driving to Enniskillen because of the parking.

"From Monday, Rural Lift has been running a service from Derrygonnelly into Enniskillen at 9.30am and 1.45pm for anyone lifting benefit, young or old and it is free. The problem is that nobody has been using it. We had three people on the bus on Monday morning and five in the afternoon."

Some people, she said had been getting lifts to Monea and Churchhill and using the Post Office there. Others hadn't received money for up to a fortnight during the closure.

"It's an inconvenience for people to go to Enniskillen, Molly added. "It is also taking business away from Derrygonnelly. There are three shops here, two supermarkets and a smaller shop, and I imagine it will take away from them because I even noticed people were doing their shopping in Enniskillen yesterday when they went in on the bus."

Ms Cassidy said that while people were fighting to have a mobile service positioned in the village, similar to that in Monea, she couldn't see that happening because of the risk factor.

"If people have too much money on them, they don't know when they are going to be attacked or held at gunpoint."

Alex Baird, Chairman of Fermanagh District Council has taken an active role in supporting those affected in Derrygonnelly. He said he was hopeful that the matter would be resolved in the short term.

"I would be hopeful that in the short term a full postal service will be returned to Derrygonnelly. It is a necessary right that it exists, just like the church, the school or the pub, it's a basic requirement of the local community. Derrygonnelly like other rural communities deserves a postal service and hopefully it will be re-established in the short term."

Meanwhile, Post Office Ltd said it was currently in discussions with potential new partners and was hopeful that the Derrygonnelly branch would reopen in the near future.

The bus service operated by Rural Lift will depart from and return to the bus stop beside Derrygonnelly Credit Union as follows: Departs Derrygonnelly: 9.30am/ Returns: 11am

Departs Derrygonnelly: 1.45pm/ Returns: 2.45pm.

The bus will operate on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

The spokesman for Post Office Ltd went on: "We apologise that customers in Derrygonnelly have been without Post Office services for a number of weeks and want to reassure them that we are doing everything possible to appoint a new subpostmaster.

"We understand the importance of Post Office services to rural communities and are always disappointed when there is a break in service. However, Post Offices are run by private individuals as small businesses, and it is often difficult to find a new agent, with suitable premises, to take over the branch when a subpostmaster resigns."

The possibility of extending the route of the mobile Post Office/Library service which visits Monea once a week was explored; however, this partnership service was planned carefully with the needs of the Monea community in mind, and the mobile simply did not have the capacity to serve the number of customers who use the Post Office in Derrygonnelly.

SDLP MLA Tommy Gallagher said he had been in regular contact with Royal Mail to discuss finding other premises for a fully functioning post office in the village.

"The latest position is that there have been two expressions of interest from potential operators of a post office. There are various procedures to be gone through to work out the best solution and it will probably take some weeks to reach a decision on the applications", he stated.

"The current situation where people are being bussed 12 miles to Enniskillen for postal services is clearly not an answer. The whole social structure of our rural areas is in danger if we cannot maintain a core of essential services in our villages, and a post office is a vital component.

"I believe there is a good business case for small post offices if Royal Mail itself can show a little courage and imagination in building up their business."