Holyhead Port Closure and Parcel Movement Update

16 December 2024

• Holyhead port remains closed. Additional ferry capacity has been created across all other ferry lanes into Ireland.

• UK and EU to Ireland shipping routes have deployed larger vessels and additional sailings added to the schedule.

• Some transit times are taking longer as a result.

An Post statistics and advice 

Through close collaboration with UK etailers & logistics companies, An Post has received almost all outstanding items impacted by the Storm Darragh/Holyhead outage.

• All but 16,000 of the 500,000 affected parcels have been received and these are now in transit to us. 

• Saturday 14th, we delivered 350,000 parcels to our Customers (4,000 delivery routes were fully operational) 

• Monday 16th we will deliver a further 350,000 parcels – and hundreds of thousands of Christmas cards.

• An Post is also securing air freight capacity to get parcels and mail that would traditionally have shipped via Holyhead moved out of Ireland to meet latest posting date promises,

• All parcels received into An Post hubs are being processed and delivered immediately and we will continue to support all our Irish and international ecommerce customers to find delivery solutions.  These large hubs have the latest technology, equipment and additional Christmas staff to meet this challenge and to deal with parcels arriving by air, as well as large volumes of domestic parcels being posted by Irish brands and personal customers.   

• An Post will deliver all parcels received into its hubs by December 21, in time for Christmas.  All An Post collection, sorting, driving, delivery, Post Office and support staff are working around the clock, as are 1400 Christmas Casual workers. 

What should Irish customers do now? 

• Our advice to Customers is that if they are still awaiting a delivery of any items ordered before Storm Darragh by tomorrow evening, they should contact the seller for an update

• If you are planning to order from UK retailers, check with them regarding their delivery dates for Ireland – many of them have secured working routes into Ireland, though dispatch times from the UK may take longer than usual. 

• An Post advises customers to shop local with Irish e-tailers, and buy Irish.  Please post your parcels and cards as soon as possible 

• Christmas card volumes are growing and latest posting date for cards to Europe is Tuesday December 17 and Great Britain is Wednesday December 18 but don’t leave it to the last minute!