Making it Personal this Christmas - (L-R) Nell Ward, fundraising manager Peter McVerry Trust; Dublin Postwoman Karan Deane and An Post Sales & Marketing director, Liam Sheehan unveiling the Admailer.ie cards at the GPO, Dublin – picture Maxwells.

22 November 2016

 

An Post unveiled its annual Christmas winter wonderland scene and announced its Christmas plans including posting times for the festive season, lunchtime music programme, Christmas gift range and its now famous role as postal provider of choice for Santa.

“We look forward to welcoming customers of all ages as they soak up the unique atmosphere of the GPO at Christmas whilst buying gifts and posting their precious cards and parcels” said An Post’s Noel Carroll, the aptly named violinist who leads the lunchtime music programme.

Christmas Display - The public post office hall at the GPO becomes Christmas central at this time each year, with a Christmas display complete with nativity scene, Santa’s workshop and a supporting cast of reindeer and polar bears.  Centrepiece of this year’s display is a carefully knitted replica of the GPO façade.  The model is the work of 20 members of the Dunmanway ‘Knit & Natter’ group from Cork who invested weeks of wool and many women-hours completing the impressive replica of the birthplace of the state.

Also taking centre stage in the GPO is the very special post-box which is the local link in a logistics chain that sees An Post staff help Santa reply to 130,000 children’s letters every year.

Lunchtime music at the GPO - All this provides a suitable backdrop to one of Dublin’s great Christmas institutions: the lunchtime musical programme, which starts at the GPO on December 1st.  Lead by the aptly-named Dubliner and An Post manager, Noel Carroll, the programme features guest appearances by singers, musicians and choirs and runs each day (Monday to Friday) from 1-2pm.

Christmas Stamps and Posting advice - Special Christmas stamp booklets are now on sale and An Post advises customers to call by their local post office for advice on postal services, rates and gift ideas including Postmobile smartphones with great value deals, One4all giftcards, iTunes cards, 1916 centenary commemorative items and handy Foreign Exchange cards in a variety of currencies.

An Post also revealed their customer checklist for a hassle free Christmas complete with advice for online shoppers and people sending festive cards and parcels near and far.  Special Christmas stamps are now on sale and full details of posting dates and packaging advice are available at all post offices and online at www.anpost.ie/Christmas.

An Post handles 2.5 million items of mail on a regular working day and this more than doubles each day leading up to Christmas.  Parcels deserve to be carefully wrapped, with lots of sturdy paper and tape. Use bubble wrap or jiffy bags for sharp or irregular sized items likely to tear through standard wrapping. ALWAYS include a return address so that if, for some reason, your parcel cannot be delivered, it can be returned to you safely. A return address is essential on all international parcels.

Online shopping - Online shopping is already in full swing for Christmas.   Given the Sterling exchange rate, An Post forecasts a 30% - 40% increase in Irish shoppers buying from UK etailers alone this year.  AddressPal from An Post is your very best friend for online shopping – we’ll provide you with a free UK address so that you can shop on sites that don’t normally ship to Ireland or avail of lower or free shipping rates. Then we’ll deliver your shopping back safely for collection at the local post office of your choice, all for just €3.50 per purchase. See www.addresspal.ie for details.

Think twice about the delivery address you give – it might be easier to have items delivered to your workplace or to a friend who is likely to be at home to receive them.   A handy new option from An Post is DeliveryBox,  a permanent, secure, weatherproof box for the exterior of your house into which we deliver all your mail – even when you are not at home. See deliverybox.ie for details.

Letters to Santa - An Post expects to help Santa to reply to more than 130,000 children’s letters this Christmas.  Children should write their own letter, making sure to include their name and address in very neat writing , address it to ‘Santa Claus, North Pole’ with a stamp on the top right-hand corner and post it in any postbox or at their local post office.  An Post will make sure it reaches the North Pole safely, and if it arrives in good time, Santa will reply just before Christmas.

GPO Witness History Visitor Centre

For anyone in need of a break (or an escape!) from shopping in the City Centre, the new GPO Witness History Visitor Centre is the perfect spot to entertain people of all ages and interests.   For family and friends visiting over Christmas, its multi award-winning architecture, immersive exhibition and games will soothe the most stressed-out of shoppers as it tells the story of the City and its people before, during and after the 1916 Rising.  Open 7 days.  www.gpowitnesshistory.ie;