Concern about the fate of post offices is expressed in a number of regional papers. The current issue of the Leinster Express gives a front-page heading to the matter which says, "Laois Battlefield for P.O. Offensive".
The report by Seamus Dunne says: "Laois postmasters, like their colleagues throughout the country, fear that the axe is hanging over their heads. The Irish Postmasters Union has chosen Laois as the battlefield for the launch of its counter-attack against the proposals.
"The offensive will begin at a general meeting in the Montague Hotel on Sunday August 19th."
The Mayo News has a headline which declares, "Mayo's rural P.O. network again under threat". The report says: "The rural post office network throughout Mayo could be under threat if Minister Mary O'Rourke proceeds with Government plans to transfer much of the network's normal business to retail outlets in rural areas."
The Derry People and Donegal News reports: "Over 130 post offices in Donegal face the possibility of having to close their doors or undergo major changes if the Government proceeds with radical plans to overhaul the postal network across the country."
The Kingdom carries a letter to the editor from the Minister, Ms O'Rourke, in the course of which she says: "A package of reforms, implemented by the management of An Post, was necessary over a transition period to resolve the current financial problems facing the network. Without remedial action the network's losses will grow to an unsustainable level - forecast to reach in excess of £28 million per annum in 2004."
The same subject is addressed by the Westmeath Examiner in its editorial. It says: "The rural post office is at a crossroads. In fact the future of the system in town and country is set for change. This results from the Government turning down an application to subvent the losses indefinitely, as they try to come to grips with a projected loss of £80 million within four years."
Problems relating to the Travelling community also attract constant attention. The Waterford News & Star says a local resident was abused and threatened with physical violence in Dungarvan when he attempted to prevent a huge convoy of Travellers from taking over a local authority site on the outskirts of the town.
"To gain their illegal entry, the steel lock on the entrance gate was smashed and, in less than half an hour, the entire Traveller entourage had moved on to the land."
The Wexford Echo reports: "Garda reinforcements from New Ross, Enniscor thy, Gorey and the Traffic Division dashed to assist their Wexford and Rosslare colleagues as rival factions of Travellers turned Rosslare Harbour into a war zone. At one stage as many as 14 Garda vehicles could be counted in the village."
In a special report in the same paper, Simon Bourke reports: "After two years spent drafting the Traveller Accommodation Plan and another 18 months working to implement it, Wexford County Council says it will be in a position to publish details of proposals for each of the county's four areas, including where it intends to site the halting sites and transient sites called for in the plan."
The Kingdom also highlights the same problem on its front page with the headline, "Court action threat as Travellers move into Killarney National Park".
The report by John O'Mahony says: "Traveller families who set up camp near a scenic area of Killarney National Park have claimed that nobody has asked them to move on despite the threat of court action to have them removed.
"But Duchas - the body responsible for managing (the park) - has threatened to seek a court injunction unless they move out straight away."
Travellers are not the only ones to have accommodation problems and several regional papers turn their attention to the vexed problem of housing. The Leinster Leader has a front-page headline: "New strategy to bring housing into 2005".
The report by Henry Bauress tells us: "Kildare County Council has agreed a final draft of its housing strategy which covers the period from this year to 2005 and will be incorporated in the County Development Plan 1999. The council has increased its estimate of the number of houses and apartments to be built during the period to 18,563, which represents 3,712 per annum."
The Leinster Express devotes its editorial comment to the matter. It says: "The most worrying aspect . . . is that while the heart is being torn out of the small villages, the countryside around them is filling up with single houses.
"The bungalow blitz which transformed the serene landscape of the countryside in the 1970s and 1980s instead of being taken under control, has gone into overdrive in recent years. Last year over one-third of houses built were one-off buildings in the countryside."