Rural isolation is now the curse of living in the country for many people

AS we enter into the season of darkness, there has been a call this week for people across rural Ireland to ‘look out for each other’ in a bid to cope with the growing problem of isolation in communities across the West of Ireland.

Galway IFA Chairperson, Anne Mitchell, has this week asked people in rural Ireland to consider a ‘short visit or a phone call’ to people living alone in their area, and especially the elderly.

“The erosion of amenities by successive Governments has led to rural isolation becoming the curse of life for many people living in country areas of Ireland.

“Back the years, the ‘Travelling Shop’ was the first to go and then we’ve had the closure of the Garda barracks and the post offices.

“This trend has continued with the removal of public bus services to and from Galway city and now we have a lack of priests to say Masses in rural villages while many of the country pubs have also closed down,” Anne Mitchell told the Farming Tribune.

She said that one very worrying consequence of all those closures and removal of services was that many people out the country were tending to stay indoors more and more, with local points of contact like the post offices now lost.

“The social outlet for many –and especially those living alone – was their weekly trip to the local post office. This had a two-way positive impact on their wellbeing.  Once they made their visit to the Post Office, it was a point of social interaction for them – and if they didn’t make the trip, then the Postmaster would make a call to ensure that they were okay,” said Anne Mitchell.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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