AN POST SAY Ireland will be reliant on delivered post “into the next decade”.

The reaction comes as the Danish postal service has wound down their service.

On 30 December, ending a more than 400-year-old tradition PostNord said it would deliver its last letter, cut 1,500 jobs in Denmark and remove 1,500 red postboxes amid the “increasing digitalisation” of Danish society.

As Ireland continues to become less reliant on delivered mail, the postal service here says there is no plans any time soon to do the same.

An Post Managing Director Mails and Parcels Garrett Bridgeman told The Journal that the future looks bright for his company.

“In terms of mail, that is by no means dead in Ireland, it wont be at least the end of this decade and well into the next,” he said.

An Post saw revenue growth of 4% for 2023 despite a 6.1% decline in traditional letter volumes.

Its revenues rose from €888.1million in 2022 to €922.9m in 2023, on the back of strong parcel growth of 14%, increased Post Office network footfall and retail income.

Last year 235 million letters were delivered in Ireland, these numbers decline annually at around  7-8%.

“Those important things like legal documents, passports, medical kits and confidential health communications, all need to be delivered by post here,” Bridgeman added.

“Mail is becoming less important, utilities are done through apps now for instance, but
people still have that need for their important documents.

“We deliver 800,000 letters a day to homes and businesses, it’s not going anywhere but it will reduce.”

He says that Denmark is “culturally different” noting that the government introduced a  digital address for all citizens. 

“We are moving that direction, it is inevitable, but we’re not as advanced as Denmark.”

Danes will still be able to send letters, using a private delivery company Dao, who will deliver around 80m letter in 2026. Customers will have to go to a Dao shop to post their letters, or pay extra to have it collected from home.

As Ireland’s posted letters reduced, parcels have increased exponentially. Ireland now has one of the fastest growing online shopping populations in the world, according to An Post.

Mail has halved in ten years, however, in the last five years, parcels have increased 300%.

This week An Post announced the price of a national stamp will increase by 20c from €1.65 to €1.85 beginning on Tuesday, 3rd February.

Asked why this was necessary when parcel post continues to flourish even as letters reduce, Bridgeman says the two are separate.

“Letters are separate to parcels in An Post, both have to stand on their own two feet, the stamp increases reflect for the reduction in mail,” he said.

An Post believe the amount of parcels has changed the job of those delivering the mail, but has secured their future.

“Five or six years ago, some of our staff were worried about their future, with mail reducing,” Bridgeman added.

“They’d have been out on the bicycle, seeing letters dwindling, now more parcels have come along,” he said.

“This means less bikes, more vans, the work is harder for the staff but they have a future, the future is in parcels, and our staff go beyond the call of duty to deliver them.

“The future of An Post would’ve come into question without parcels, and it’s very different from letters but we work with the staff on what they need, whether its equipment, or technology. We’re secure.”