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An Post
An Post (English literal translation: 'The Post', English official title: The Post Office) is the State-owned provider of postal services in Ireland. An Post provides a universal postal service to all parts of Ireland and is a member of the Universal Postal Union. Services provided include letter post; parcel service; deposit accounts; a courier service (SDS - special delivery services); and Swiftpost, an all-Ireland next-day delivery service.
An Post came into being in 1984 when, under the terms of the Postal & Telecommunications Services Act, 1983, the delivery services of the Department of Posts & Telegraphs (P&T) were divided between two new organizations: An Post and Telecom Éireann (the latter being the telecoms operator now called Eircom). At its inception, during the early years of the Irish Free State, the Department of Posts & Telegraphs was the country's largest department of state, and its employees (most of them postmen) constituted the largest sector of the civil service. Today An Post remains one of the largest employers in the State, although it has undergone considerable downsizing. It is still loss-making in parts.
An Post holds the licence to run the national lottery of the Republic through its subsidiary An Post National Lottery Company.
An Post - An Post Transaction Services
In 2003, An Post set up a new division to run its post office and transaction services business, entitled An Post Transaction Services or PostTS. It rebranded its post offices network as "Post Office" or, in a limited number of areas "Oifig an Phoist", with a new white and red logo, and introduced banking services in conjunction with Allied Irish Banks. It also introduced a service wherby newsagents could provide some Post Office services, entitled PostPoint. This was thought to have reversed a downward trend in business. PostTS also expanded abroad, with operations in the UK and Spain.
In 2005 PostTS sold its foreign operations. The rebrand of Post Office was partially reversed after some criticism, with the traditional An Post logo restored to Post Offices alongside the new Post Office logotype (the red-and-white symbol has been dropped from Post Offices, but remains in use for the company's BillPay.ie website and for PostPoint). The "Oifig an Phoist" version of the Post Office logotype is also now more promient on Post Office shopfronts.
Communications in Ireland, Dublin postal districts, Postal addresses in Ireland, General Post Office (Dublin), List of Irish companies
See also
- Communications in Ireland
- Dublin postal districts
- Postal addresses in Ireland
- General Post Office (Dublin)
- List of Irish companies
An Post - External link
Categories: Postal organisations | Communications companies of Ireland
Other related archives1984, Allied Irish Banks, An Post National Lottery Company, Communications companies of Ireland, Communications in Ireland, Department of Posts & Telegraphs, Dublin postal districts, Eircom, English, General Post Office (Dublin), Ireland, Irish Free State, List of Irish companies, Postal addresses in Ireland, Postal organisations, Telecom Éireann, Universal Postal Union, civil service, courier, deposit accounts, letter, lottery, postal, telecoms
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "An Post", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
