Joy in Kildalkey as post office opens again

A POST office has re-opened in Kildalkey village after more than a year"s absence, during which time pensioners were forced to travel to neighbouring towns to collect their weekly pension. The postal agency is now located in Gethin"s Gala Store and the re-establishment of the service has been warmly welcomed in the village. The postal agency had been located in Melia"s Londis Shop, which closed in May 2007 for renovations but never re-opened. Senior citizens in the area had to travel to Trim or Athboy to collect their pensions and say the closure represented a huge inconvenience to them, especially for those that did not drive. It had also been a meeting point for pensioners in the village on a Friday and people also missed the other services that had been available such as the Billpay service, buying stamps or being able to post parcels. The postal agency has now been transferred to the other shop in the village, Gethin"s Gala Village Store, and the post office re-opened in June. Before Melia"s had the postal agency, it was held by the previous owners of Gethin"s shop, so a post office counter was already in place. Proprieter Thomas Gethin said there were happy scenes in the village the day the post office re-opened. 'The pensioners were delighted. They were the ones who were put out the most and had to get taxis and lifts to Athboy. Some of them were close to tears when the post office opened. There was lots of emotion,' he said. Mr Gethin went on to say that one elderly woman who cycles around the village was very independent and used to thumb a lift to Athboy while Kildalkey"s post office was closed. Each week, business at the post office is picking up as people realise that the service is available again. 'It is picking up all the time. Most of the pensioners are now back who had been typically collecting their pensions in Athboy. It will take a few months for it to fully pick up,' he added. 'It is like any other service in that it is only when you really need it, that you realise it is here. People had to change their habits of a lifetime under duress. It was such an established practice but now they have to change their habits back again.' Kildalkey has a postal agency which means that locals can collect their pensions and social welfare payments if they are assigned there. People can also pay their bills,take out their television licences, purchase stamps and post parcels. Those who are collecting social welfare payments in other towns and villages can be re-assigned to Kildalkey if they wish. The post office opening hours are the same as that of the shop.