Wrongly addressed letters have been delivered to the right people for years, but the postcode system will do away with that, writes Rosita Boland.
Every other country in the EU has them. From January 2008, Ireland will too, whether we like it or not. This week, Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey announced that postcodes will be introduced to the Republic. Postcodes, or zip-codes as they are called in the US, are a series of numbers and/or letters at the end of an address: the Royal Mail has been using them in Britain and Northern Ireland for more than 30 years.
"A postcode is a vital piece of infrastructure for a modern developed economy. Without an effective postcode in Ireland, there is a real danger that not only postal operators, but also consumers, business and public services will be at a disadvantage compared to our EU partners," Dempsey said. A national postcode project management board will shortly be appointed by the Minister.
There are an estimated 40 per cent "non-unique" addresses in the State. These are townland addresses, mainly in non-urban areas, which do not have house numbers, and depend on local knowledge for access. Dempsey has promised that traditional placenames will be retained in the new addresses: something which will make the process feel a little less as if we are becoming a completely homogenised society.
Everyone has a story to tell about how a letter with a name, but only part of the address, eventually ended up coming through their letter box: arriving there by a combination of guesswork and local knowledge.
It could be argued: who needs a postcode when even a partial address still finds its way to the right letter box? Similarly, it could be argued that these days postcodes are about everything but post, since so few people now write letters; depending instead on e-mail for all but the most official of correspondence.
DEMPSEY HAS SAID that having a more precise system of identifying addresses will make access easier for the emergency services. "We welcome the news about postcodes," says Pat Fleming, assistant chief fire officer with Dublin Fire Brigade, which also provides an ambulance service. "A national postcode system will definitely make things easier for us, particularly in country areas, where we would sometimes only have a townland address to go on."
When it comes to business, it is certainly true that, at present, when ordering books or goods over the Internet there is confusion when it comes to the - usually mandatory - fields that ask you to insert your postcode.
The public may not be aware of it, but the fact is that each building in the State, let alone a street, already has its own identifying code. GeoDirectory (www.geodirectory.ie), a joint venture between An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland, was set up 10 years ago and is used by businesses such as call centres. Under the system each building is given an identity by allocating it randomly generated numbers, and including details such as the X and Y map co-ordinates of the building, and boundary data such as townland, electoral division and county.
It is not yet clear whether the national postcode project management board will use this existing database, or whether it will implement its own system. Nor is it yet clear what form the postcodes will take, or how and on what basis the numbers will be allocated to towns and cities.
AT THE GPO in Dublin this week, postal customers discussed the subject of postcodes. "Absolutely ridiculous," said Pauline Cohen. "We don't need it. The postmen know who they're dealing with; they know all the houses. It's needless. Another racket that is going to cost lots of money."
Some customers did not know what a postcode was. "Is it a house code, a street code or an area code?" asked Barry McMahon. "Why do we need it?"Originally from the US, Stephen Hathcock has lived in Ireland for 15 years. "I don't see the point of it," he declared. "There is too much change as there is." "I don't get much post anyway," said Dorothy Murphy. "It won't make any difference to me at all."
This week, a report commissioned by An Post's group of unions, An Post - A New Vision - recommended that Ireland consider implementing a postcode system. According to the report, "it is very possible that [ the lack of postcodes] is holding back the potential growth in mail volumes particularly the growth in direct mail". Direct mail is business speak for what amounts to unsolicited mail, much of which can be classified as junk mail.
On Monday's Morning Ireland, Dempsey explained why postcodes were needed and was pressed on the subject of junk mail. He brushed away the suggestion that postcodes would lead to more junk mail by saying: "One person's junk mail can be another person's great bargain, or a vital piece of information that they need."
It was a classic piece of spin. Come 2008, it's more than likely that those great bargains and vital pieces of information will be coming to a postcode near you - in ever greater quantities.