Scrap Eircode

ReclaimRadio

With the licence for Eircode due to expire next year, The government should scrap unfit for purpose Eircode and issue a tender for a fit for purpose location code.

Mrs OBumble

In what ways is it not fit for purpose?

GandhiwasfromBallyfermot

Eircode is dead handy what are you on about?

coolbeans

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058251290/scrap-eircode

What are you on about? It's a great system and one of the only ones in the world to bring you to an individual address rather than a general area unlike other systems.

Atlantic Dawn

Is the tender not just to manage it with ownership remaining with the state? Capita had the original contract to create it I believe.

munsterdevil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119234830#Comment_119234830

It's not bad, but the problem is, an Post delivery staff don't really use it (yes, writing an eircode on an envelope is basically useless for the final stages of a delivery).

An Post had come up with their own postcode system but the government came along with Eircode, mainly because they can charge businesses to use it.

Most countries' postcodes are for a general area, Eircodes are for specific buildings, even specific apartments; this makes it impractical for an Post delivery staff to use:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/an-post-confirms-staff-do-not-use-eircode-system-for-local-deliveries-1.3104577

Vicxas

Eircodes make it so much easier to find things in the middle of nowhere, no more "go down there until you find a broken tree, take the second left after that and then over the humpy bridge and its the 25th house on your left"

andrew1977

I love me Eircode ! the days of non delivery/missery parcels over , the days of directing tradesmen /anyone to the house.. over

Heres me eircode, i shall see ya when you pull in the gate !

Staplor

I was initially against them, now I'm all for them. An Post knows where my house is, it's the delivery drivers that need the eircode

Sonics2k

Sounds more like an issue with An Post really. Everyone else in Ireland seems to be handling Eircodes just fine.

Leg End Reject

It's a fantastic system, emergency services, delivery drivers, tradesmen etc all use them hassle-free, even in rural areas. Why on earth would it be scrapped?

Melted

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119234884#Comment_119234884

The article says amoung other things that the problem with eircodes is its a unique number assigned to a property and that post persons could not be expected to memorize them? The argument being that a better system would be to have a code that represents a general area?

I am sure it does? the first 3 characters are for an area, most people put an address and a postcode in the address so a post worker can still read the address handy enough?

I think eirocdes are dead handy still dont understand the issue.

RayCon

My Eircode has the correct house number, street name, estate name, but wrong town, correct county - very frustrating

AirAmp2019

An Post could absolutely use if it they were bothered to update their systems.

Eircode is invaluable for all other delivery services!

It also is very handy for Emergency Services, albeit, anecdotally, I believe Emergency Services built in Sat Navs didn't support Eircodes for quite some time and therefore they had to use personal mobiles for GoogleMaps, but their willingness to do show evidences how well the system does work.

Ash.J.Williams

Eircode is f**ing amazing

2ndcoming

This thread has not gone well for OP.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058251290/scrap-eircode

What a stupid idea. Are you that crackpot that's always pushing the abomination that's Loc8 ?

As for An Post not using them, according to the horse's mouth a "Correct Address" includes the Eircode. Sending post and parcels | Personal | An Post

griffin100

My teenagers and their friends all use eircodes rather than addresses when giving directions to houses. As we live in the arse end of nowhere it’s much better than vague townland names and descriptions of what a house looks like.

CPTM

Eircode is literally the only thing they got right and you want to scrap it.

I've sent a letter to myself as an experiment before, using nothing but my name and eircode and they delivered it to my house. Literally just name and eircode, nothing else, and it arrived next day.

L1011

That one lonely man is still fighting for people to use his (useless for GIS purposes) proprietary concatenated coordinates system I see.

lmimmfn

If you live in the sticks, eircode is absolutely fantastic, no longer telling delivery drivers:

<Me>: its the 3rd white house on the left beside the old house with a red bush, the car is parked outside, its a grey VW Golf, also theres a huge pothole on the main road right outside the house, if you hear a bang while passing you've got the right house.

<Driver>: Sorry can you repeat, bad coverage

Glaceon

I assume this is another Loc8 shill...

plodder

Eircode is okay, but could have been a lot better. I had some interesting "discussions" with the designers of it on this site several years ago.

Scrapping it makes zero sense, but the best thing they could do at this stage is open it up as a public good and maybe only charge for the address file. The big commercial users would continue to need that, and will pay for it.

the_pen_turner

its definetly not perfect but works well enough to leave it alone

kegblag

The random nature of the last 4 characters is a problem. 

In our case on one side of us there's a house that's not in the estate and to access you need to drive about 1km away down a different road. We get couriers trying to find them, and they get couriers trying to find us.

In a normal post code system it'd be obvious our code means we're in our estate, or on our street or whatever. For us it's possibly safer to not include the eircode and eliminate that confusion (as luckily our address is enough.)

For the likes of researchers into cancer incidence across the country that random nature of the codes is also unhelpful - they'd like finer resolution than the non-random part can provide. The post code system was why local Covid rates were released on the basis of voting areas - again the post code system couldn't provide the resolution needed.

letsbefair

My Eircode brings deliveries to wrong road despite me contacting them on several occasions they have not fixed it and have not replied. It is a pain. Does anyone know how to get it fixed please ?

martingriff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058251290/scrap-eircode

Eircode goes directly to my place in my estate however only use by address and its a crap shoot depending as my estate is called 1 thing on Google maps another on my father's GPS etc. So works great. Was going to a wedding up in sligo last march. Put in address and then eircide of place was a few hundred meter difference. Eircode was closest. Hated them when for the logest time now live them. Some delivery aps do not use them unless you expressly say use them

martingriff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119234924#Comment_119234924

If they use them. I was getting food delivered by a certain app. My address had the eircode and I still have to put it in delivery notes for it to be used. Even then they ring up saying outside your place go out to see there not. First question did you use the eircode they go what eircode the one on the delivery message. There like I have to use that? Yes you have to put number if apartment put that should be done anyway.

The other big headache I have is my address on Google its one way on another its another never mind the second or third line.

munsterdevil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119235049#Comment_119235049

When they first handle an envelope/parcel, they use it, presumably for the first 3 digits. But it's not a requirement for an Post delivery drivers to use it, and most of them don't.

Wrongly or rightly, that's an Post's stance on this issue. I don't really care as long as my post is delivered!

martingriff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119234884#Comment_119234884

That's An Post problem. They know eircodes are here a d people use them. It's up to them to make sure they use them

OU812

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058251290/scrap-eircode

You're that Loc8 Looney, aren't you???

Man have you ever got a chip on your shoulder about not getting that contract.

Here's the deal, Eircode is well established, it's in use by many many delivery companies, supply companies, product companies & individuals on a daily basis. Apple, Google & Microsoft, Tomtom & Even Garmin have all integrated it in their mapping software. They're not going to scrap it & go with another system as that would be both futile & confusing at the same time.

I tried Loc8 & while I will concede, it had it's benefits in that you could generate a code, it was so clumsy & ham fisted it wasn't worth using.

Even three little words which uses the same generate your own code principle but isn't integrated into anything but their own mapping is a more elegant solution than Loc8 was & that has international appeal & usage (have even seen it in some US TV show during 2021).

Victor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119235024#Comment_119235024

Then let them know. Note that there are "Geographical Addresses" and "Postal Addresses".

martingriff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119235063#Comment_119235063

There was many people myself included who had to admit that after decrying it first ad it looked horrible. I still think the letters at the start could have been easier to County names but ya since I started using them it's been great the find my eircode site is not too bad either if you know the general place

munsterdevil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119235373#Comment_119235373

It's not really their problem, as they don't really care!

CPTM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119235399#Comment_119235399

I think for a lot of people in the countryside it is a godsend.. I mean for those it works for.. I don't know how I'd find some people's houses without it.

martingriff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119235411#Comment_119235411

I am in a city and some people still can't find it if they use my address they type in the estate name nothing full address nothing. Use the eircode look at address all completely different.

martingriff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119235409#Comment_119235409

Well it's staying so then should care and get used to it as more and more are now using it

astrofool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119235128#Comment_119235128

The idea of the commercial rates is for it to be self sustaining, scrap that and you'd need the tax payer to provide the maintenance costs.

plodder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119235265#Comment_119235265

For the likes of researchers into cancer incidence across the country that random nature of the codes is also unhelpful - they'd like finer resolution than the non-random part can provide. The post code system was why local Covid rates were released on the basis of voting areas - again the post code system couldn't provide the resolution needed.

That was one of the points I tried to make, to no avail, alas.

Their argument boiled down to - anyone who really needed to do that kind of analysis would a) be prepared to license the data and b) pay a third party €€ to develop some bespoke solution for them. It was clear to me that wouldn't work for many many uses cases.

As I said above, they could rectify that situation by releasing some part of the data for free.

Ten of Swords

Not a CA

Thread closed