Postmasters today announced a new General Secretary – who stated his commitment to maintaining Post Office services in communities throughout the country.
The new Irish Postmasters’ Union (IPU) General Secretary is Dublin native Tony Howard who now takes over from Ned O’Hara who has been in post since 2014.
Beginning his tenure Tony Howard thanked Ned O’Hara, who will retire at the end of this month, for an excellent service to Postmasters and the communities they serve.
Mr. Howard had a distinguished career with An Garda Síochána for over 40 years, which has given him senior experience at working with Government, communities and national agencies.
Tony Howard said his vision was to “work effectively with all stakeholders – Postmasters, communities, government and An Post – to deliver an evolving Post Office Network which can meet the needs of communities long into the future”.
“I was drawn to working with Postmasters in order to champion the unique role they deliver in Irish society. There is huge social, economic and citizen value in our Post Offices services and we must work together to keep them open and busy.”
IPU President Seán Martin welcomed the new General Secretary into the role: “There will be real challenges and also opportunities ahead. The IPU is confident that Tony will bring strong initiative and energy and our Executive will work closely with him to find and achieve solutions.”
“I would also like to give all of our thanks to Ned O’Hara who has been a highly committed leader of the Irish Postmasters’ Union since 2014. He has successfully overseen a number of critical reports, the negotiation of a new Postmasters’ contract, and helped to secure new Government commitments to the Network. We wish him long health and happiness in retirement.”