§ DE. KENNY (Cork, S.)I beg to ask the Postmaster General whether it is the intention of the Postal Authorities to erect a new post office on a site in North Street, Skibbereen, South Cork; whether the said site in North Street is near the extreme end of the town, and hence most inconveniently situated to nine-tenths of the inhabitants whose places of business are in Main Street and Bridge Street, and High Street, nearly half a mile distant, where are also situated the chief hotels, town hall, &c.; whether he is aware that a meeting of the inhabitants of Skibbereen, presided over by the Chairman of the Town Commissioners, was held some months since, at which a resolution was unanimously passed recommending as the place most convenient to the general public, for the new post office, a site at the junction of High Street and Market Street, previously approved of; whether he is aware that this resolution was subsequently endorsed at a meeting of the Town Commissioners, who offered to lease the site in question on easy terms to the Postal Authorities; whether the latter did not at the time agree to the proposal; and whether, in view of the great public inconvenience which will be caused by the erection of the proposed office so far from the centre of the town, he will direct its erection on the site offered by the Town Commissioners?
§ MR. RAIKESThe duty of providing accommodation for the Post Office work at Skibbereen rests upon the Postmaster. In February last he applied for permission to move the business to a new office which he proposed to build on a site in North Street. No other suitable site or 1199 house was available at the time, better accommodation was urgently needed, and permission was given. The site is only 200 yards from the Square, which is considered to be the centre of business, and is nearer to it than the present office. I am informed that the site at the junction of High Street and Market Street recommended by the meeting referred to, is really a portion of the Square, and is much frequented on market days. I am also informed that the Town Commissioners have never offered a lease of it. The Postmaster has completed his arrangements for the new office in North Street, and it is not practicable to disturb them.