About 80 post offices operated by An Post will be closed for an hour at lunchtime today as a result of industrial action by members of the group of unions in the company.
The action being taken between 1.00pm and 2.00pm is in protest at plans by the EU Commission to introduce a directive from January 2009 to open up the postal market to competition.
Post offices operated by postmasters around the country will not be affected by the action today. A spokesman for the Communication Workers Union said the experience elsewhere had been that introduction of full competition was disastrous for the universal service obligation where all parts of the country had to have the same level of deliveries and at the same price.
The union spokesman said companies entering newly-liberalised markets had tended to cherry-pick profitable services in cities. The protest action is being taken throughout the EU.
A spokesman for An Post said the company regrets the inconvenience caused to customers.