Irish postal dispute continues

The industrial dispute which has disrupted the Irish postal service is continuing today. In a statement issued this morning, An Post repeated its advice from Friday that customers should not to post any letters – but this time it added that they should not post any parcels either.

At first glance, this might seems like good news for the independent parcel delivery companies, because they could pick up extra business. However, some leading independents have told Post&Parcel that they would rather seen the dispute resolved, in order to reduce the disruption to the industry.

For example, John Tuohy, the CEO of the Nightline Group, reckoned that even if the dispute took days rather than weeks to resolve, its effects would prove “unhelpful” to the delivery industry and the wider economy.

“Any interruption to deliveries – no matter how brief – can be extremely costly to the delivery sector and the companies or individuals who it serves,” said Tuohy. “The potential damage is not just confined to organisations in Ireland. Such is this country’s growing appetite for e-commerce, in particular, that businesses in the UK and beyond may suffer.

“Even in the hours since the industrial action began, Nightline has already seen an increase in parcel volumes and I would expect other private carriers to see something similar.

“However, any uplift in business amounts to a short-term spike of unplanned-for parcel volumes rather than the more preferable sustainable growth.

“It is in everyone’s interests that this dispute is brought to a close as quickly as possible.

“After all, our economy needs a stable, fully-functioning national postal service as a key element of Ireland’s social and commercial infrastructure.”

An Post’s statement today added that mail deliveries are operating normal for mail which had already “entered the system prior to the commencement of this action”.

Meanwhile, added An Post:  “Post Offices retail services are operating as normal with the exception of the Passport Express service which has been suspended. The Department of Social Protection are making alternate arrangements for customers who receive their benefits by post.”