Does Ireland Use Postcodes?

mr_angry · 01-11-2004 01:17PM #1

Aside from Dublin, does the rest of Ireland have a postcode system? I recently checked on a Komplett order to find my details had been amended to include 'D64' after Dundalk. To the best of my knowledge, we've never had a postcode system here in Dundalk, but I'm wondering if one has been recently implemented?

RuggieBear · 01-11-2004 01:20PM

not in any official sense....

altho there are a few spatial analyst companies who are trying to link every address in the country to a phone number and point on a map....addresslink by gamma is one that i know of....

Dr. Dre · 01-11-2004 01:49PM

Not that I know of, I usually just put N/A in the postcodes boxes for purchases on the net.

billy the squid · 01-11-2004 02:24PM

Cork has postcodes but no one uses them so it seems.

darkdreamangel · 01-11-2004 02:33PM

just dublin i think and thats only some parts

scribs · 01-11-2004 02:35PM

Follow the link to find out all you need to know about our postal system
Its a gripping Read

http://www.iol.ie/~discover/mail.htm

Enjoy

RuggieBear · 01-11-2004 02:37PM

this is an article from the Irish Indo from Jan 27 last year.....

AN POST will try to block any attempt by the Communications Regulator to introduce postcodes.

The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), which has published a consultation paper, claims postcodes could help to reduce confusion and speed up the sorting of mail, as letters would be routed automatically once their postcodes had been scanned.

ComReg points out that every EU country apart from Ireland and Greece uses postcodes.

Direct-mail companies and the ESB are among the organisations that support postcodes. The electricity company claims they would give it more accurate information in emergencies.

An Post has rejected the plan, however, saying postcodes would be expensive and unnecessary in a country with such a small and scattered population. A spokesman for the company said its technology could read addresses in milliseconds, which far outweighed any advantages postcodes could bring.

An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland have devised a "geo-direct system", containing 1.5 million addresses, that can pinpoint locations more accurately than postcodes can, he said.

In Dublin city, the postal districts from Dublin 1 to Dublin 24 represent sorting offices. This is as much of a system of postcodes as Ireland needs, according to the spokesman, who said An Post would be making a strong case against postcodes to ComReg.

Concerns have also been expressed by Irish-language scholars.

Udaras na Gaeltachta chairman Liam OCuinneagain said postcodes would dilute Ireland's "rich and unique" place names. "We have a policy of using county names and place names in the thousands of letters we send out every week, and postal codes or no postal codes we will continue to use that format."

Kathy Donaghy and Anita Guidera

billy the squid · 01-11-2004 02:43PM

Sounds to me like on Post are afraid of giving up their "jobs for life" in favour of automation.

Postcodes/Zip codes

In general, Postcodes are not required. The exception is Dublin and Cork city where a 1 or 2 digit zone number appears after the name of the city (eg Dublin 2). This number is shown after the street name (eg 25 Clare Street 2 = 25 Clare Street, Dublin 2).

see they do have them in Cork :P

bringitdown · 01-11-2004 02:45PM

Despite the lack of postcodes in Ireland and the obvious problems our wonderful place names impose I love the fact that a letter addressed to:

My Name
Co. Galway

Can still reach me.... granted I haven't a common surname but I have no doubt in other countries this would be RTS.

Gurgle · 01-11-2004 02:50PM

bringitdown wrote:

Despite the lack of postcodes in Ireland and the obvious problems our wonderful place names impose I love the fact that a letter addressed to:

My Name
Co. Galway

Can still reach me.... granted I haven't a common surname but I have no doubt in other countries this would be RTS.

Thats amazing!

Our postman is illiterate, we regularly get letters through the door addressed to different house numbers, different estates, occasionally different towns.

When something important fails to arrive, I have to go for a walk around knocking on doors to find out where my post was actually delivered.

Not that this would be fixed by a postcode.
A well trained chimp would solve the problem.

RuggieBear · 01-11-2004 02:50PM

billy the squid wrote:

Sounds to me like on Post are afraid of giving up their "jobs for life" in favour of automation.

see they do have them in Cork :P

You may well be right...but i worked (at a very low level) on that "geo-direct system" and it is much more accurate than postcodes...

still it wouldn't be that hard to implement post codes here...sure isn't there a perfect example of it in action in Scotland....big pop centres and then low pop density...

embee · 01-11-2004 03:39PM

My Dad is a postman. There are no postcodes. In fact, if there were, he reckons that there would be mass confusion and non-delivery of mail.

If the system works okay, why mess with it?

Victor · 01-11-2004 11:56PM

Aside from Dublin, does the rest of Ireland have a postcode system? I recently checked on a Komplett order to find my details had been amended to include 'D64' after Dundalk. To the best of my knowledge, we've never had a postcode system here in Dundalk, but I'm wondering if one has been recently implemented?

Possibly Komplett's courier's own system.

If asked for your postcode and they "insist" the advice is to use "XXXX".

jesus_thats_gre · 02-11-2004 01:12AM

embee wrote:

My Dad is a postman. There are no postcodes. In fact, if there were, he reckons that there would be mass confusion and non-delivery of mail.

If the system works okay, why mess with it?

What percentage of post going missing in this country?

Tiriel · 02-11-2004 01:15AM

billy the squid wrote:

Sounds to me like on Post are afraid of giving up their "jobs for life" in favour of automation.

see they do have them in Cork :P

what are they in Cork? :rolleyes:

elivsvonchiaing · 02-11-2004 01:37AM

embee wrote:

My Dad is a postman. There are no postcodes. In fact, if there were, he reckons that there would be mass confusion and non-delivery of mail.

If the system works okay, why mess with it?

'coz your dad is presumably Irish or here long enough to know the ropes and will eventually retire. This will not work in 20 years - it doesn't work now imho. There can be few countries left without postal/zip codes.

I think we don't have postal codes for many reasons- one is protectionism. There's no reason why someone from an unprouncible town in the Czech republic with reasonable English could not come here to work as a postman if there was a post-code system.

I do concede there would be confusion when implemented at first - but hell sweden changed from left-hand-drive to right-hand-drive overnight. It can be done. It would be progress.

Victor · 02-11-2004 02:01AM

Cork_girl wrote:

what are they in Cork? :rolleyes:

In the city only

North East - 1
North West - 3
South East - 2
South West - 4

elivsvonchiaing wrote:

I do concede there would be confusion when implemented at first - but hell sweden changed from left-hand-drive to right-hand-drive overnight.

Actually they did it during the day (so people don't forget when they got up in the morning). Would you have had them start on a phased first, first trucks and busses, then cars and vans and finally motorbikes and cyclists?

fragile · 02-11-2004 02:27AM

When providing my delivery details for some free IBM software evaluation CDs I gave the postcode of my old address in Berlin, as I am sick of these online forms complaining that I have to provide a postcode...feck off, I am Irish, I don't have one..

Anyway, when the CDs eventually arrived the forwarding stickers on them showed that they were originally mailed from the US, arrived in Germany, were forwarded to the UK and then forwarded to Ireland.

I now use N/A when asked for a postcode

sceptre · 02-11-2004 02:38AM

Victor wrote:

Would you have had them start on a phased first, first trucks and busses, then cars and vans and finally motorbikes and cyclists?

The shocking thing is that a few people swallowed that line from me lately after I fed them the "yeah, the government want us to switch to driving on the right just after they change the speed signs next year" story I just made up there and then when they were complaining about the smoking ban existing and Mata Harney still being in a job.

Must find less gullible people to troll IRL.

Moriarty · 02-11-2004 03:11AM

Coincedently enough there was a discussion about this on the IIU mailing list over the past month or so.

Read it here (offshoot of the 'Worst ecommerce site in Ireland' thread).

billy the squid · 02-11-2004 03:50AM

Cork_girl wrote:

what are they in Cork? :rolleyes:

ye i think there is Cork 1, 2 3, and 4

do they not have the postcode on the streetsigns in cork like they do in dublin.

Osku-82 · 02-11-2004 04:52AM

No postcodes... That's really weird. Well I'm too confused with the system they use in London. That makes no sense. I wonder, too, what's the percentage of mail being lost in Ireland? I guess every postal worker must just be used to this...

Victor · 02-11-2004 04:58AM

Osku-82 wrote:

I wonder, too, what's the percentage of mail being lost in Ireland? I guess every postal worker must just be used to this...

I imagine it's not better or worse than other countries. In fact with full addresses, there is probably more information to work of than just an incorrect postcode.

DonkeyStyle \o/ · 02-11-2004 07:16AM

Osku-82 wrote:

Well I'm too confused with the system they use in London.

Yeah me too, I had it explained to me very slowly and I pretended like I understood... but I really didn't.
The guy explaining it to me seemed to understand it though, but it was probably explained to him by someone better at explaining things. :rolleyes:

Gurgle · 02-11-2004 09:59AM

Doesn't the rest of the world use the full geographical address plus the postcode ?
So how could introducing postcodes here lead to stuff getting lost ?

leeroybrown · 02-11-2004 10:10AM

I had a credit card application turned down twice because of Irish addresses and an English applications office.

The first time the application came back marked as denied due to "No Postcode". The second time it came back denied due to "No House Number".

Ironically it turned out after consulting the house deeds that it had a number that was never used. "Mr. Leeroy Brown, Town, County" would have easily got to me without the extra town land, let alone adding a number.

Gurgle · 02-11-2004 10:21AM

leeroybrown wrote:

Ironically it turned out after consulting the house deeds that it had a number that was never used. "Mr. Leeroy Brown, Town, County" would have easily got to me without the extra town land, let alone adding a number.

When I'm ordering stuff from abroad, I always put in the postcode as '123456' and never have trouble with delivery.
Of course this stuff is delivered by couriers who would lose their jobs if they just dumped it into any old letter-box.

The postman has no such worry.

Boro · 02-11-2004 10:35AM

Funny story, but true.

Friend of mine sent a christmas card once to a mate of ours who lived in limerick. He didnt know the exact address, but he had been at the house. This guy was really surprised when he got his christmas card addressed :

Mr xxx xxxxxxxx,
3rd House behind the Parkway Shopping Center,
Limerick.

The postal system works

RuggieBear · 02-11-2004 10:42AM

Boro wrote:

Funny story, but true.

Friend of mine sent a christmas card once to a mate of ours who lived in limerick. He didnt know the exact address, but he had been at the house. This guy was really surprised when he got his christmas card addressed :

Mr xxx xxxxxxxx,
3rd House behind the Parkway Shopping Center,
Limerick.

The postal system works

We all know where your mate lives now!!!!! :eek:

mr_angry · 02-11-2004 10:59AM

RuggieBear wrote:

We all know where your mate lives now!!!!! :eek:

Pah. I doubt anyone's going to go to Limerick to hunt him down.

pickarooney · 02-11-2004 11:13AM

Gurgle wrote:

Doesn't the rest of the world use the full geographical address plus the postcode ?
So how could introducing postcodes here lead to stuff getting lost ?

It's fine as long as the postcode is correct, but if you have the correct address and the incorrect postcode it may well get lost or at least rerouted, as the sorting will be done based on the code.
I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a postman to know how to find addresses without a code, any more than it is to expect a taxi driver to know his way around a city. Then again, there are lots of addresses in townlands with no signposts, road names or numbers, which would take a bit of getting used to.

Does Ireland Use Postcodes?

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