Sir, – Congratulations to Elizabeth Moloney (July 20th) on her success on sending a letter to herself using only an Eircode as an address. I tried exactly the same exercise, posting the letter to myself on Thursday. Alas, by yesterday, it still hadn't arrived. Perhaps it only works in Dublin areas with a district postal code. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL NELSON,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – I don’t know why Ms Moloney is surprised that a letter addressed to her Eircode actually arrived. Isn’t that what was intended? The big mistake was in designing a random code that means nothing to anybody but An Post, instead of one that would have been clear, logical and helpful to all.
Instead of spending vast amounts on consultants, could we not have learned from systems elsewhere? I lived in the UK when they adopted postcodes in the 1950s: their model was simple and clear, and acceptable from the start. It consisted of two alpha-numeric parts: the first part an easily recognisable area code based on a well-known place such as Exeter where my daughter lives, the centre being EX1, with her area in a suburb designated EX5, so everybody knew at least the area where she lived. Large-scale maps carried the code.
We paid boffins to devise a random system that means nothing to anybody and cannot be easy to use. I fear it will give our neighbours another chance to have a laugh at our expense, which I don’t like! – Yours, etc,
WJ MURPHY,
Malahide,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – I received my Eircode in the post this morning. I was somewhat surprised to see the return address: “If undelivered, please return to PO Box 8, Kilrush”. What? Has Eircode no Eircode? – Yours, etc,
TONY KEANE,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.