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The growth of widespread access to the internet from the late 1990’s and early 2000’s and the subsequent emergence of email as the dominant and preferred means of interpersonal and business communications has ensured that the post office networks of Ireland and throughout the European Union have had to confront a series of interconnected challenges.
The challenges have been of such scale that they profoundly undermined the various networks’ monopoly status, financial stability, operational continuity and societal utility.
A review of the reduction in traditional letter mail in Ireland is illustrative of equally dramatic reductions right across all EU member states.
During the period 2007-2017 for instance, Ireland’s state postal service, An Post, reported a 40% decline in letter volumes. Based on EU per capita averages of 150–200 items annually for an Irish population of 4 million+ this translated to a drop to approximately 360 million items by 2017.
Another notable indicator of uncertainty within the An Post network was the decision taken in 2010 by Postbank, which was a joint initiative between An Post and French BNP Paribas Fortis finance company operating in about 1,000 of the country’s post offices, to pull out of Ireland. This commercial decision to exit from the market signalled the kind of major challenges that would persist for the next 15 years.
This was taking place at the same time that the EU was moving toward the full implementation of the Third Postal Directive (2008/6/EC) in 201. This Directive solidified the end of An Post’s monopoly in Ireland.
At the national level, the provisions of the Directive were given effect in Ireland through the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011.
Speaking during its introduction in the Irish parliament, then Minister for Communications, Pat Rabbitte, outlined that the Bills main objectives was to fully open the Irish postal services market to competition while also establishing a regulatory framework that would incorporate mandatory provisions such as the safeguarding of the universal postal service and the removal of the remaining area reserved to incumbent postal service providers.
Ironically, while it ended An Post’s monopoly, it was also described as a significant milestone for the postal sector and it provisions would contribute to a period of stabilisation.
This was reflected in a 2014 Financial Statement from An Post indicating that for the first time in eight years the network would generate an operating profit which was previously unachievable due to ongoing digital disruption to many of its core products and services.
Further apparent evidence of the robustness and adaptability of the Irish post office network can be seen in 2016 when An Post launched €100 million Strategic Transformation. The company stated its hope that the investment would yield a detailed plan for the medium to long term future of An Post that would encompasses every aspect of the Group’s business.
Unfortunately, despite this ambition, , the trajectory from 2016 clearly paints a picture of gradual deterioration in available service provision at the local and rural level.
This kind of stark change in the Irish post office network landscape was also reflected in a Study for the European Commission, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs conducted by Copenhagen Economics in 2016.
After contacting all regulatory authorities and national postal operators in 32 countries, Copenhagen Economics found that whereas letter volume decline has decisively shaped the postal market, it was the growing e-commerce industry and the growth in parcel volumes that generated equally important operational and economic implications for postal networks.
The removal of the price cap for postal stamps in Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Ireland from in 2017 and the emergence of double-digit price increases also contributed strongly to a growing preference for email and the decline of letter mail.
In addition to these challenges Ireland’s Post Office provider was always faced with specific geographical challenges related to its almost unique level of dispersed settlement patterns and rural landscape.
According to Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO), approximately 37% of Ireland’s population—around 1.85 million people—lives in rural areas, defined as settlements with fewer than 1,500 inhabitants.
This geographical profile, allied to technological advancements, shifting demographics, including rural depopulation, competition from private couriers, and a lack of robust state funding further exacerbated the decline of An Post and its decision to focus on parcel delivery by 2020 as part of a strategy to offset financial losses.
The issues involved in the decline of the post office network have received considerable levels of political focus, not least because of the aging demography of Irish rural voters who have been long accustomed to sourcing services at their local post office.
The Irish Government had established a Post Office Network Business Development Group to examine the potential from existing and new Government and commercial business that could be transacted through the post office network.
The Group would eventually make 23 recommendations such as the proposal to transfer motor tax services to post offices to promote footfall.
However, the situation for Ireland’s post office network remained bleak as the relentless pressure arsing from the ongoing challenges posed by technological changes eventually culminated in a series of announcement by An Post, including an announcement that it would be pursuing 159 voluntary closures across the network.
There was and remains significant disagreement about the ‘voluntary’ nature of these closures not least because of the view that a number of Irish Governments, despite their ambitious rhetoric, had failed to encourage the transfer the transfer of Government payments to post offices.
Frequent claims around a lack of funding have also been made, with one analysis citing that based on 2019 volume data, the Post Office Network would have an annual projected shortfall of around €17 million from 2021 onwards.
This situation led the Irish Postmasters’ Union (IPU) who act as the representative body for 90% of Ireland’s postmasters, to commission an independent review by Grant Thornton in 2022.
The Grant Thornton Report analysis was to conclude that the Post Office Network should be considered worthy of Government investment due to its ability to play a significant role in supporting local economies, due to a multiplier effect as well as its capacity to support social inclusion in accessing core citizen services, particularly for those who do not transact online.
There remain ongoing doubts however about the level of meaningful Government commitment to the preservation of the network.
A statement by an Post in January of 2025 confirmed that a further 161 postmaster had submitted applications for voluntary retirement
According to the statement, this will likely result in the closure of 161 post offices out of a network of 1,111 post offices leaving a remaining network of 950 post offices.
At the same time, An Post has reaffirmed its commitment that communities of over 500 people will have a post office and that over 95% of the population will be within 15km of at least one post office.
The decline of the post office network in Ireland shows no sign of being reversed.
In this it reflects a similar situation across many EU member states who have struggled to find a balance between public service obligations and the plain financial reality that arises when a dramatic reduction in footfall occurs.
While the public may have sentimental attachments to the local post office, the viability of these from a business perspective is increasingly strained as technological and societal preferences continue to favour private delivery services and online communication.