Stamped out: 250 post offices shut in last decade

/ 9th July 2025 /

More than 250 post offices have closed in the last decade, writes Adam Van Eekeren.

The data was provided to Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane via an answer to a parliamentary question, and showed that 257 post offices had been closed across the country in the last ten years.

It comes after postmasters last month warned that 40 per cent of post offices could close unless there was an increase in funding for the network. The Irish Postmasters' Union (IPU) is now calling for a 50% increase in state funding to €15 million per year over five years.

Cullinane described the data as "shocking", saying: "The local post office plays a vital role in Irish life, providing financial services, access to the social welfare system, communications infrastructure and community supports."

The Waterford TD called for the IPU's request to be taken up as a new governmental approach, adding that without it, "more communities will lose their post office" and that it "would be a huge blow to social cohesion and rural life".

Sandra Tormey, the general secretary of the IPU, has told the Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications that 108 postmasters are currently earning less than the minimum wage once their costs are taken out.

Tormey explained to the committee that union members have had to "absorb 30 per cent minimum wage increases and 15 per cent inflation".

She went on to claim that if funding were increased to €15m, 70 per cent of IPU members could envisage a viable future.

The government has said it is committed to a sustainable An Post and post office network as a key component of Irish infrastructure.

It agreed to provide €10m a year over three years to support Irish post offices in 2023. It is believed that most of the closures recorded took place prior to this funding being put in place.