Eircode - Why did they bother?

Foggy Jew

At the height of Storm Ophelia, my chimney went on fire. (Nobody told me about downdrafts etc). I was horrified at the thought of calling out the fire brigade, knowing that they would be so busy, but as the flames and sparks coming out of the top of the chimney were getting worse, I had to phone them. I live in a rural area - no house numbers. When I got through to the Fire Service, I gave them my eircode, and they said that it was no use to them, and would I give them directions to my house. If Eircodes are not being used by the emergency services, what the heck use are they at all?

King George VI

I genuinely forgot that Eircode was a thing so I looked it up. Found a great quote:

An Post had previously claimed that a nationwide public postcode system was unnecessary, stating that it was "a 1960s solution to a 21st century problem".

lol

o1s1n

The only benefit I've seen so far is no longer having to put '0000' in the zip code section of online forms.

nelly17

Google Maps works with them - Id say that makes them pretty useful. Its not the fault of the Eircode system that the Emergency Services don't use it.

Edit:I suspect it has something to do with ECAS and Eir having to invest in their software to accommodate it hence it hasn't happened. In other countries when you make the call from a landline the call handlers already know the address.

murpho999

Fire services should be using Eircodes as they work.

They even work on Google Maps so no excuses.

People are against them because they are "random" instead of sequential but why anybody would need sequential postcodes is beyond me.

I would say over time as more services adopt them they will become more used as they are very convenient when used properly.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

o1s1n wrote: »

The only benefit I've seen so far is no longer having to put '0000' in the zip code section of online forms.

I used 90210 :cool:

Pat Mustard

o1s1n wrote: »

The only benefit I've seen so far is no longer having to put '0000' in the zip code section of online forms.

At least 0000 was easier to remember.

moonlighting

jobs for the boys.
joking aside why did the put a space in. some websites i order from don't like the space.
e.g. xxx yyyy -> xxxyyyy

EverythingGood

They work for eir and sky and vodafone for providing broadband in rural areas too.

Ted Plain

I live in an area of Dublin that has an existing Dublin postcode number. My Eircode starts with D. I like it and use it.

My folks live in County Dublin and theirs starts with K, which is ridiculous because County Kildare is close by.

They really, really, really should have ensured that the codes start with the initial of the county that the address is in, like it is with car registrations.

No wonder very few have warmed to it.

Macy0161

I'm suprised, because as far as I'm aware the ambulance service use it?

I've had various couriers looking for it (a lot of labels that companies use still don't include the field), and also had a product recall on a tumble dryer and the guy phoned looking for the eircode for directions.

An Post do use it now also - we've had a few envelopes with the lack of eircode highlighted. iirc their main issue is they had just put in sorters that didn't require it. But insert anti-union rant here, as some will no doubt do.

Also, you can use an eircode to get a destination on google maps too. There were obviously issues with the cost of the project, but lack of use is down to implementation by other companies/ bodies imo.

lawred2

moonlighting wrote: »

jobs for the boys.
joking aside why did the put a space in. some websites i order from don't like the space.
e.g. xxx yyyy -> xxxyyyy

take out the space then

nelly17

Ted Plain wrote: »

I live in an area of Dublin that has an existing Dublin postcode number. My Eircode starts with D. I like it and use it.

My folks live in County Dublin and theirs starts with K, which is ridiculous because County Kildare is close by.

They really, really, really should have ensured that the codes start with the initial of the county that the address is in, like it is with car registrations.

No wonder very few have warmed to it.

Just like phone numbers - it'll never catch on

lawred2

Ted Plain wrote: »

I live in an area of Dublin that has an existing Dublin postcode number. My Eircode starts with D. I like it and use it.

My folks live in County Dublin and theirs starts with K, which is ridiculous because County Kildare is close by.

They really, really, really should have ensured that the codes start with the initial of the county that the address is in, like it is with car registrations.

No wonder very few have warmed to it.

Do they live in a townland that starts with K?

colm_mcm

Google maps has eircode, I find it great.

__..__

We had to call the gardai one and I have the Eircom as the house I was living in at the time was in a rural area. I got a phone call about 3 hours later saying they couldn't find the house. I had to spend 20 minutes on the phone with the gardai in the car to help them get to the house.
Put it in google maps and it points right to the house. Sure the crime was a cold case file by then.

Estrellita

I live in a rural area also, and I've often been asked for my post code as a means of finding us. It's quicker than giving directions and unlikely you'd miss any turns using it.

murpho999

moonlighting wrote: »

jobs for the boys.
joking aside why did the put a space in. some websites i order from don't like the space.
e.g. xxx yyyy -> xxxyyyy

Spaces are normal.

It's websites set up problems if they can't handle them.

Look at UK postcodes all with spaces.

crossmolinalad

nelly17 wrote: »

Google Maps works with them - Id say that makes them pretty useful. Its not the fault of the Eircode system that the Emergency Services don't use it.

Edit:I suspect it has something to do with ECAS and Eir having to invest in their software to accommodate it hence it hasn't happened. In other countries when you make the call from a landline the call handlers already know the address.

The 112 app on my windows phone does the same
Was last summer in the middle of nowhere working in the bog when a accident happend
Used the app and the emergency service known exactly where we were

mobby

colm_mcm wrote: »

Google maps has eircode, I find it great.

Agree.. used eircode on google maps to find a house in rural part of wexford. got me straight to the door. Great stuff.

seamus

The emergency services are using it. The OP might have just gotten through to an old schooler who doesn't do all dat Googley Maps schtuff, just give us the directions there.

OldGoat

The codes don't work well because we don't use them.
It's like getting a bus service, then never using that service and then complaining that the service is not fit for purpose because no-one ever uses it.

jamesbere

I think eircode is really good, very useful for finding someone's house in the backend of nowhere.

seamus

moonlighting wrote: »

jobs for the boys.
joking aside why did the put a space in. some websites i order from don't like the space.
e.g. xxx yyyy -> xxxyyyy

That's just to aid readability. The space isn't a part of the code and you don't need it.

Humans are better at reading and remembering codes if you put them in groups of 4 or less. So you're better able to recall "A34" and "64A3" separately than if you try to remember "A3464A3" as one entire block.

Likewise with phone numbers, people will usually call out a mobile phone number in distinct blocks - the area/network code, then 3 or 4 digits, then the remaining digits. If you write the number down as 0875678321, it's much harder to read than 087 567 8321.

Discodog

I would complain at the highest level. It's unacceptable that a fireman is unaware that the eircode will take you straight to the property. You even get driving directions on Google maps.

Works perfectly with Domino's Pizza, what more do you want?

B-D-P--

Building a house, I use it alot.
Well I use my neighbors because I haven't been assigned one yet, but its fierce handy for deliveries.

murpho999

Ted Plain wrote: »

I live in an area of Dublin that has an existing Dublin postcode number. My Eircode starts with D. I like it and use it.

My folks live in County Dublin and theirs starts with K, which is ridiculous because County Kildare is close by.

They really, really, really should have ensured that the codes start with the initial of the county that the address is in, like it is with car registrations.

No wonder very few have warmed to it.

Why does it matter. People only need to memorise their own code. They codes were allocated via whatever post office served them.

I live in Bray, Co Wicklow and my Eircode starts with A. It makes no difference.

The high horse brigade

Mr.S wrote: »

Eircodes are great, pitty few people or sites use them.

It's improving at a huge rate since Google added Eircodes

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

The_Valeyard

Never use it, no need, waste of money.