'They led us along and let us walk into a brick wall': Shocked workers react to Cork mail centre closure

However this offer did little to dull the scathing criticisms of An Post, local politicians and the union.

One worker, who has been with the company for nearly 20 years, described the closure as a “betrayal” and said that staff believed An Post had known for a long time that it was planning to axe the Cork centre.

“They could have given us more time to get out ahead of it, to consider our futures,” he said.

“Instead they led us along and let us walk into a brick wall.”

“It’s a shock,” another staff member said.

“We’re devastated that it has happened to us”.

There was a sense among those willing to speak to the media that the Cork centre was performing at least on a par with, if not better than, other centres in Portlaoise and Athlone which were spared closure.

Those pointing to the survival of those centres attributed the Cork centre's demise to a lack of support from local politicians, and the feeling in Little Island was that public representatives from the Midlands were more willing to throw their weight behind campaigns to save the Portlaoise and Athlone centres.

“The representation just wasn’t there for us,” one worker said.

Staff also questioned the rationale behind the decision. While the company has cited the drop in the number of letters being sent as contributing to the need to shut the centre, workers said the continuing growth in online shopping means they believe there is a continuing need for a sorting base for the south of the country.

“We know the amount of letters being sent are falling, no one disputes that for a second, but we’re delivering more parcels than ever before,” he said.

One staff member also queried how long ahead of Wednesday night’s announcement the Communications Workers’ Union knew of An Post’s decision, given it had printed newsletters prepared to give to staff upon their learning of the news.

Dave O’Connell who has worked for An Post for nearly 25 years said there were “a lot of tears” at the meeting when the closure was announced.

“There were a lot of unhappy people, and it's only going to get worse today,” he told RTÉ radio.

“The shock last night will probably turn to anger today and questions. It just came down, that's it, and it all boils down to money. This place is worth more than Athlone or Portlaoise,” he said.

“It hasn't sunk in, but it'll sink in today. Probably a lot of people angry.

“We didn’t think we were going to be in the firing line.

“There wasn’t one politician who came out to us or helped us,” he said.