A POSTMISTRESS in Donegal who had her contract terminated after an armed raid intends to sue An Post if it refuses to pay her any financial gratuity after three decades of loyal service.

Bernie Moore, who runs the post office in the village of Carrigans, is to have her contract terminated by An Post on 31 August for an ongoing failure to follow security procedures. A new postmaster has already been hired.

In February 2009, three armed raiders put a gun to Bernie Moore's head and stole €108,000.

Weeks after the vicious raid, the married mother of three began to receive letters from An Post, saying it was not happy with how she had handled security at the branch.

Last January, she was told her contract was being terminated and that she would have to pay €80,000 to An Post. She appealed the decision but, in June, An Post told her that her contract was being terminated at the end of this month. It is no longer seeking the €80,000 from the postmistress.

This weekend, she told the Sunday Tribune: "The robbery was a total nightmare and something I'll never get over. But the treatment I've gotten from An Post since has left me devastated. Since they've already given my job to someone else, I don't hold out any hope of getting it back. But after 30 years' service, I do think I should get financial gratuity. I just want what's due to me, I want some dignity on the day I leave. I won't take it lying down, I will take them to court if they do not."

The Irish Postmasters Union has come out in support of the Donegal postmistress saying An Post had no justifiable reason to terminate her contract.

No one has been charged in relation to the armed raid. It is understood gardaí believe some of the men responsible for the robbery are associated with the Continuity IRA.