Hi everyone, very sad day in Rathmines today as
Hi everyone, very sad day in Rathmines today as the post office behind me that has been open since 1934 finally shut its doors and it's moved just down the street into a sent back of a century shop. A pokey distant corner of a century shop far removed from the purpose-built post office that they claimed it would be on post.
Now, this post office was built back in 1934 during the middle of an economic war with Britain and also at the time of the Great Depression. Which yes a beautiful Art Deco building could be constructed during that period. Really says it all about Ireland of today where they're looking to sell off so many of our public assets and privatize the not-for-profit public service.
Now, this harks back to the time of Fianna Fáil government in the '80s with the European Union Postal Services Directive which opened up the door for the privatization of the postal service. And now there's a third of the post offices under the control of An Post at least 850, nearly 900 are in with private postmaster run operations. Now, the unions also got involved with this.
They Communication Workers Union have agreed with An Post to a transformation agreement. And part of this was to agree to the privatization essentially of the services for a few shackles off the table. Now, with is at the same time the CEO of An Post and new incoming CEO, used to be CEO of Grant Thornton, and of Quilter, is now working into a, probably 250,000 plus salary in this position, while running down the public service and outsourcing.
It. Down the street there to Centra, which they claim was a purpose-built modern, state-of-the-art premises. It's at the back of a shop. That's all it's become. There was seven or eight counters here, if not more. It's going to become two or three counters down below. We had petitions, we had stalls, we had demonstrations over the last couple of years around this, and a number of political figures tried to get on board, and of course they used it for their own ends,.
Not for the good of the community, and soon
Not for the good of the community, and soon dropped it like a hot potato when they realized they weren't getting anywhere. Which is typical of those politicians, isn't it? So, they're they've signed up to the CEO, neo-liberal agenda, the privatization of our postal services. They've claimed they brought forward motions and so forth, but in fact, what's happened? Absolutely nothing. That's why it's so important that ordinary people leave lead campaigns, not political parties, who just lead you up the garden path.
“So, they're they've signed up to the CEO, neo-liberal agenda, the privatization of our postal services”
And at the same time, we've seen more of our services being destroyed all around and our public services and post offices in particular. Now, what happens to this building is going to be a stark reminder to really what's taking place in terms of the cultural vandalism of our public spaces. An Post now are looking to sell off this building, the Arnotts building, probably to the highest bidder. Perhaps they'll try and make it become the old post office in.
The future. Probably a luxury bar or something. Or perhaps a mass immigration center. Who knows what they might try and create up here as well. Currently, the mail service is still at the back of this premises. And at the same time, this is due to move within a few months, I understand, down to the South Circular Road. A lot of businesses rely on this service as well. But it demonstrates how much of a failed state Ireland is, where our basic.
Not-for-profit public service and our beautiful buildings like the post office behind me are destroyed and sold off. It showed you It shows you really what Ireland works for. The The behest of the corporations, while ordinary people suffer. It's not a society. It's just a corporation. And this is a monument and a testament to what Ireland has become. And one of our great proud patriots, James Connolly, didn't live too far from here. And I recall the famous poem by William Butler Yeats,.
September 1913, that spoke of the time of the 1913 lockout, and spoke about fumbling in the greasy till. And he also went on to say that romantic Ireland is dead and gone. It's with Connolly in the grave. Well, Ireland needs to wake up and take back our country and put the heart of public services, basic facilities for people, and particularly our elderly in our community who rely on this service. So many people who built and were part of this community, the workers.
And many more for many years who've used the
And many more for many years who've used the service, has uh just basically been given the two fingers by the Irish establishment. But it's incumbent on all of us to rise up and stand up against what's taking place. And unfortunately, this wasn't a battle that was won. But it's a lesson to future battles that should take place in Ireland. Where people only true people power, and true communities working together and coming together, the things can and will.
Change. So thanks for the support. And uh from very sadly here in Rathmines, thanks again for everybody who supported the campaign, everybody else who stood up against what took place, and many of you came out today to the protest around Rathmines Post Office. So, from Dublin today, Rathmines is standing tall.
