Pensioners on Clare Island off the Mayo coast are forced to make a three mile journey to the mainland every week to collect their pensions.
The Clare Island Post Office has been closed since June 1998 and An Post says that it is still trying someone to reopen it.
The weekly pension run is now a source of bitter dispute between the Islanders and An Post.
Jim Fahy speaks to some of the elderly islanders as they travel by ferry on rough seas to collect their pensions.
Elderly people can't take all this aggravation.
There were also protests from mothers who had made the same journey to collect their children's allowances.
Clare Island has a post woman but no post office and nobody is willing to run one for the £5,800 An Post is willing to pay each year. It is just not financially viable.
The lack of a post office is also causing problems for Island businesses. Beth Moran is a craft weaver on the island who needs to use the services of a post office to send parcel internationally. Without a post office, Beth must spend an entire day travelling to the mainland.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 18 February 1999. The reporter is Jim Fahy.
