This week marked the opening of a new temporary Post Office in the Erneside shopping centre in Enniskillen following the closure of the previous branch on Townhall Street.
While a permanent long-term location for the Co Fermanagh town’s Post Office is yet to be found, the new Erneside branch opened on Monday, with new postmaster Stephen Henry saying it is ‘vital’ to keep the services going in Enniskillen.
Stephen, who also works as the manager of Lisnaskea Post Office, said it has been a busy few days so far in his new role.
He told MyFermanagh: “They approached me when the Post Office in the town closed down about taking this on on a temporary basis to get the service up and running, and to make sure that it was still there for the people to come in and use.
“We have been working on it for a couple of months and there has been a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes, trying to find a premises that was suitable and whatnot.
“It worked out that Erneside stepped forward and said they had a premises for us, and after a few weeks things started falling into place.
“We are up and running again from Monday and it is going very well so far.
“It’s been very busy this week, it is the only branch in Fermanagh that can do passport services so we have been busy with that. So far so good.”
Stephen said that local post offices still provide a vital service to the community, and that it was important to maintain the service.
He said: “It’s vital because it is still the hub of the community and there are still plenty of people that use it for everything, from pensioners collecting their money to people doing online shopping returns or banking.
“It’s vital that it is here and that the service is up and going again.
“It is a temporary fixture at the minute. The Post Office are looking for a permanent solution for it, but at the minute that has not been resolved yet, so it was vital that we got a temporary service up and going.”
Stephen added that while there may have been some qualms about the new location from those in the town, the feedback from customers so far has been all positive.
“I’m in my 12th year now of doing this, and while there are local branches, a local branch isn’t the same as a main branch and you really need that in a town as big as Enniskillen.
“Where we are at the minute is an ideal spot for it, there is no doubt about it.
“There was some anger and some issues with moving out of the town centre, but anyone that we have had in so far has been very positive about it, and said they hoped that it stays where it is.”
