Fianna Fáil has hit on a novel way of putting its name and message in front of hundreds of thousands of people this month.
It has paid An Post €9,500 to have messages franked on all stamped letters passing through the automated mail centres in Dublin and Portlaoise this month.Together, the two centres handle 70 per cent of the State's personal mail.
Fianna Fáil approached An Post just after Christmas about the possibility of buying the service, which is a regular An Post advertising facility.
"The service is obviously available to anyone who wants to buy it and Fianna Fáil were first into the breach," said a spokeswoman for An Post.
Fianna Fáil has also taken an option on the service for April and May as it gears up for the general election which most commentators expect to take place in May. The political parties are currently building up to the campaign, with each of them trying to identify more imaginative ways of grabbing the voters' attention.
The advertising service sold by An Post covers stamped, personal mail, but not business mail which is usually franked, rather than stamped.
"It's as close to national as you'll get," said the An Post spokesman.
"It's aimed at personal mail rather than business mail. Anything that has postage stamps on it going through our big mail centres will have it applied," said the spokesman.
It is understood that the service, which is open to all organisations, has cost the party around €9,500.
The spokesman said he was aware that the deal might create some controversy as the Government is An Post's shareholder.
"We're aware of that, but we're a commercial company. We need the money and the item was up for sale and Fianna Fáil was the first in the queue to ask for it," the spokesman added.
The legend on the letters will carry Fianna Fáil's name and two messages, "Prosperity, Progress, Peace" and "Securing the Future".
"It's a commercial service offered by An Post and we took an opportunity to avail of it," said a spokesman for Fianna Fáil.
An Post said the service has become increasingly popular among businesses and organisations, with many of them booking the service months in advance to coincide with key dates for their organisations.
"With new machinery, it's a lot more dependable and it's hitting more mail and it's becoming a lot more sought after," said the spokesman.