Irish Post codes

wreckless

about bloody time everyone :mad:

Minister Ryan announces new postal code system for Ireland

Dublin, 21 September 2009

Communications Minister Eamon Ryan today announced that the Government has approved the introduction of a new postal code system for Ireland.

The Department of Communications will issue an invitation to tender shortly for the implementation of this new system. It is expected that post codes will be assigned and in use in early 2011.

A report from PA Consulting put the monetary benefits of postcodes to the State at €22 million in the medium term. It is widely acknowledged, however, that most of the benefits of such a type of system cannot be accurately gauged in monetary terms.

A postal code system throughout the country will bring a number of benefits including faster and more accurate postal delivery. This will benefit householders and business and save money for the State as a major postal customer.

A locational code system, such as the one envisaged, will also unlock the potential across Government Departments for use of this spatial data for policy planning. The information will allow Government to match demographic trends to its policy making i.e. assist in deciding the location of schools, hospitals. Post codes have also been identified by the emergency services as aiding their speedy deployment to the location as required.

It is envisaged that an alphanumeric postal system (ABC 123) will be used to identify clusters of houses.

Sample:
Ms. A Murphy Mr. B Collins
Apt 7 Blue Building Main Street
Pearse Street Athlone
D02 123 ATH 123

The exact allocation and design will not be finalised until the tender process is complete.

Announcing the move, Minister Ryan said, “A postal code system represents an excellent investment for any modern country and is essential for the development of the digital economy.

I look forward to working on its swift implementation over the next 15 months.”

ENDS


check these guys out, they have it well sussed

http://www.irishpostcodes.ie

TheNog

Will this mean all Emergency Services be fitted with SatNav?

Certainly would make it alot easier and more efficient in finding addresses at night-time

source

TheNog wrote: »

Will this mean all Emergency Services be fitted with SatNav?

Certainly would make it alot easier and more efficient in finding addresses at night-time

i've seen them in regional vehicles, but apparently sat nav would ruin local knowledge so don't expect them in divisional vehicles anytime soon.

mcguiver

I thought An Post had made a statement on this a few years ago, which basically said that their adress recognition software made post codes obsolete, and therefore there was no reason to spend any money
(22 MILLION!!) on post codes??

I think I see another goverment ###k up!

Anyway...from an emergency service point of view we only have to look overseas to see how navigtion is done properly!!! I.E. caller rings 911/999 from a landline, their caller i.d. comes up on despatchers screen with grid ref for sat nav, call is sent straight to nearby vehicles...... doh! I forgot we dont have computers in cars ... maybe someone could donate the 1980's system from The USA to us!

wreckless

the gps company is going live with a system in november and are putting to test some of their sat navs in fire appliances in cork and ambulances too.

seriously tho, i could not see how this could cost that much to introduce. Go back and get better quotes eh?

the new BT call answer system does triangiulate a caller to their location i thought, but like the poster siad, what good is that info if the step in the system doesnt work with the info. insurance companies will have a role to play in this introduction anyway, they will make it a legal requirment to get a post code or provide them with it.

apart from emergency services using these codes, just getting items sent in the post from abroad can be slow when they dont have a code, even countries we would consider to be developing have had them years :rolleyes:

maglite

Re AnPost they dont want and wonk use them. It serves no benifit to them, It was however serve private curiours.

Re the Bt thing, http://www.askcomreg.ie/mobile/siteviewer.273.LE.asp it can tri angulate but its assivly innaccurate, look up the google map app for mobile andgo outise a town, look how big the radius is.

Delphic

Here's a new location system that will work on web, mobile and satnav - www.gocode.ie. It'll work for buildings, motorways, rivers, mountains - anywhere.

It's being trialled on vehicles and within company systems.

TheNog

foinse wrote: »

i've seen them in regional vehicles, but apparently sat nav would ruin local knowledge so don't expect them in divisional vehicles anytime soon.

Post codes would be handy for say house alarm activations, burglaries in progress, serving summons and executing warrants, exact positions for RTAs etc etc.

Local knowledge would still be needed for scenes of RTAs, thefts etc etc. Also many of the older generation would still use the old system over the new post code as they have done with euros/pounds and miles/kilometres.

I can see what you mean with the possibility of over reliance on technology which is a big no-no

T-Square

maglite wrote: »

Re AnPost they dont want and wonk use them. It serves no benifit to them

They will do as they are told.


Next.

sdanseo

maglite wrote: »

Re AnPost they dont want and wonk use them. It serves no benifit to them, It was however serve private curiours.

Re the Bt thing, http://www.askcomreg.ie/mobile/siteviewer.273.LE.asp it can tri angulate but its assivly innaccurate, look up the google map app for mobile andgo outise a town, look how big the radius is.

T-Square wrote: »

They will do as they are told.


Next.

Too bloody right. If goverment says they're being introduced I dont give a flying toss whether or not they like them.

This is a technological thing, it'll happen anyway - only plausible objections are with cost. Post workers should be sacked on the spot for even moaning about this, if anything it'll make their jobs easier (or redundant, in which case fair enough moan away).

maglite

sdonn wrote: »

This is a technological thing

Yes, 60 year old technology, Is't it brilliant, There is an existing GeoDirectory that a number of state bodies have access to, open that up.

An post are not set up to deliver based on post codes, they deliver based on your address, like wise the automated system does not use them. It only cross check them in England. It is after all an PCR engine and can misread a letter, post code will nto follow a pattern the way a townland does. DO0Q all look the same to an OCR. IYtlf1 all look similar too. For a computer it adds too much confusion.

As for the manual, they have a system that is working for the last 50 or so years, mail sorted in mail ctrs, sent to regional then local centres, post codes will not change this.


Let people use an OS grips ref or lat long if they want a unique identifiable.


And because we all know the goverment knows everything, not to mind the major multi nationals consulted on the mail system and countless other countries that use the system. Post codes are out dated.

mcguiver

Post codes are out dated.

Well said

That was the point I was trying to make... we do not need post codes, therefore 22 million spent on them is another waste!!

Our postal system is actually very efficient, look at the time it takes to get letters/packages throughout the country considering we have such a bad infrastructure.


So anyway, if the POSTal service doesnt need POST codes to deliver POST,
can I have the 22 million instead??

wreckless

intriging last 2 posts guys.

i do agree with you, a letter in the post office here in gorey and its delivered almost the next day to house in donegal, all by an address and no codeing system, i can send packages through a courier here at 4pm one day and have a customer in dingle get it 9am the next morning with no code, albeit the driver might need to ring the phone number of the customer to see exactly where they are, he might know the area, but not the exact road or house the address is belonging too. now a code on the box for him to punch into his gps unit and bing, now he knows wheres going.

22m is some serious figure for a system that will just assign every part of this island a geo code probaly based on the a-z map , which is what the old 60 year old system is based on too. stop wasting money with consultants lenihan and get a better price

Gerri

mcguiver wrote: »

Post codes are out dated.

Well said

That was the point I was trying to make... we do not need post codes, therefore 22 million spent on them is another waste!!

Our postal system is actually very efficient, look at the time it takes to get letters/packages throughout the country considering we have such a bad infrastructure.


So anyway, if the POSTal service doesnt need POST codes to deliver POST,
can I have the 22 million instead??

Think outside the box lads. WE may not need post codes but all these other postal services sure do if they are going to tender to deliver our mail. Remember, we are part of the EU and our mail can be very efficiently sorted in ANY other country,already happens with a lot of magazines, they are pre sorted BEFORE arrival here and are just sent to the local mail delivery offices. That is why An Post are opposed,they know damn well they risk losing the lot if other countries can sort our mail accurately,no local knowledge required. I know quite a few senior lads in the PO and this was their answer.

Ian Beale

As a famous Irish comedian once said about posting letters to Ireland "Ignore this part just get it to Ireland,they'll know what to do with it"

Delphic

wreckless wrote: »

intriging last 2 posts guys.
22m is some serious figure for a system that will just assign every part of this island a geo code probaly based on the a-z map , which is what the old 60 year old system is based on too. stop wasting money with consultants lenihan and get a better price

Eh €22m is the amount the consultants said would be generated as savings from implementing postcodes, not as a cost!

The cost of implementing the system is much smaller - that's the point. €10-15m was quoted by the Minister, and he said that this money would be recouped over time, so that it operated at zero cost to the State.

If you implement the system of one of the location code variants out there already such as the one on epostcode.ie or GoCode.ie, the costs for designing and assigning the code to every house is already dramatically reduced because the work has already largely been done. The Go Code website already has a database of buildings and has assigned a location code to each one. Get that finished, and you now have a base from which to build other areas or boundaries that different sectors want to have for their own use.

If An Post want to create bunches of houses that suit their delivery schedules, then they have a code for each building, and can assign them accordingly. It would be easy to match those location codes to their database. Other delivery/logistics companies could develop their own routes with the codes as the base. They can also be applied to existing political boundaries or electoral boundaries or county boundaries. And you still have a code that anyone can use at anytime without reference to a database, because they can use it on their mobile phone, their PDA/satnav or on the web. And that technology is only going to get better and faster.

maglite

http://ims0.osiemaps.ie/website/publicviewer/main.aspx?id=&utype=&ecom=S1&user

search function up in the top right. An example of existing GeoDirectory. People know their address it will take 10 or so years at best for people to know their code. What will happen iis people will use the worng code to just get it to the town, sure its close enough mentality. If people like a numeric address use a lat long or Os grid, curiours are more than capible of using that if they wish.

As regards pre sorting, An Post still deliver those, they export their sort plan and people get a reduction in price per unit.

As i understand it, most of the "saving will come from not haveing mail returned to gov depts. This will still happen as the address was wrong to begin with. What Anpost should do is try tro deliver, if its the wrong address then charge to gov for return delivery or bin it. the 50odd cent stamp only covers delivery. See how that adds up over the year. could be far more than their 22million.


Its just another waste, we dont need them. There is better and more modern tech availible and in use.

Delphic

maglite wrote: »

http://ims0.osiemaps.ie/website/publicviewer/main.aspx?id=&utype=&ecom=S1&user

search function up in the top right. An example of existing GeoDirectory. People know their address it will take 10 or so years at best for people to know their code. What will happen iis people will use the worng code to just get it to the town, sure its close enough mentality. If people like a numeric address use a lat long or Os grid, curiours are more than capible of using that if they wish.

As regards pre sorting, An Post still deliver those, they export their sort plan and people get a reduction in price per unit.

As i understand it, most of the "saving will come from not haveing mail returned to gov depts. This will still happen as the address was wrong to begin with. What Anpost should do is try tro deliver, if its the wrong address then charge to gov for return delivery or bin it. the 50odd cent stamp only covers delivery. See how that adds up over the year. could be far more than their 22million.


Its just another waste, we dont need them. There is better and more modern tech availible and in use.

good suggestion maglite. Hitch the OSI database since i's public domain to a location code system and you've got an accurate coding system for buildings. And you've also got a coding system for things that don't have addresses of which there are thousands. Having a location code on them allows you to tell it easily to someone else and they can input it into a web browser/site, mobile or GPS-enabled device with routing instructions.

I don't agree that it will take 10 years for people to get to know their own code - there are much simpler and more effective ways to letting them know it relatively quickly, and for them to use it - if they wish.

Mikefitzs

It would be so easy to setup a postcode system in this country, if you think about it for a minute, all the information already exists with the ESB. Every address in the country has an MPRN this number is unique to a residence or business premises. All the Gov. need to do is give the information from the ESB to a competant private company to impliment the system, for Gods sake DO NOT let An Post coordinate or have ownership of this. As already mentioned on the thread sack any post worker who doesn't like it, lots of people out there at the moment would be glad of a chance at working in An Post.

Delphic

Mikefitzs wrote: »

It would be so easy to setup a postcode system in this country, if you think about it for a minute, all the information already exists with the ESB. Every address in the country has an MPRN this number is unique to a residence or business premises. All the Gov. need to do is give the information from the ESB to a competant private company to impliment the system, for Gods sake DO NOT let An Post coordinate or have ownership of this. As already mentioned on the thread sack any post worker who doesn't like it, lots of people out there at the moment would be glad of a chance at working in An Post.

Nice idea, except it only applies to places that have ESB meters. there's thousands of places that don't and would benefit from having a location code.

mcguiver

I'M confused??

Am I totally missing something here.
Postcodes are for POST, as the name suggests.
We havent got POST codes because the technology used by our POSTal service is so advanced that it can read addresses, and generally get any POST delivered within Ireland in 24 hours.

So just to confirm, we dont have or need POST codes.

Are discussing looking for a system to find addresses for joe soap and business users, emergency services etc? If so surely we would just link every premises in the country to it's gps co-ordinate?

Delphic

"Are discussing looking for a system to find addresses for joe soap and business users, emergency services etc? If so surely we would just link every premises in the country to it's gps co-ordinate?"

Now you're getting it. Postcodes are used for more than delivering mail. But they're not accurate enough for identifying specific buildings. So a location code like GoCode which has a gps coordinate attached to every building makes sense.

Mikefitzs

If you can you name 10 legal addresses you know - that don't have electricty - that are connected to the national grid then you are a very lucky person. i've been around for 38 years and have yet to meet a home or business that is not connected to the national grid. Yes there are some but eehhhh so! HOW MANY DO YOU KNOW? Postcodes identify a premises not just a location! No more free Sky boxes if postcodes come in. In case you are wondering what I mean - -- e.g. you can get a new Sky box if you use a maiden name at same address, this won't happen if you have a postcode.:cool:

Delphic

Mikefitzs wrote: »

If you can you name 10 legal addresses you know - that don't have electricty - that are connected to the national grid then you are a very lucky person. i've been around for 38 years and have yet to meet a home or business that is not connected to the national grid. Yes there are some but eehhhh so! HOW MANY DO YOU KNOW? Postcodes identify a premises not just a location! No more free Sky boxes if postcodes come in. In case you are wondering what I mean - -- e.g. you can get a new Sky box if you use a maiden name at same address, this won't happen if you have a postcode.:cool:

I meant places other than buildings - beaches, historic sites, pitches, mountain walks, graveyards, somewhere on a motorway, etc. Have a look at this site, and you'll see what I mean - www.gocode.ie - it gives lots of examples.

Free Sky boxes? Can't help you there.