You won't have to trek from Crumlin to Lucan to pick up your parcels, An Post says

Sure, An Post plans to move its mail-sorting hubs from Crumlin, Dolphin's Barn, and Ballyfermot to near Lucan, said a spokesperson for the postal service on Thursday afternoon.

But it shouldn't lead to residents who currently use those depots as pick-up points for packages that haven't been delivered trekking to Fonthill to collect them, he said.

"Planning for these moves are well underway and there is much to be considered," said the spokesperson.

But part of that preparation is to copperfasten which facilities in the local areas An Post will use to deal with undelivered mail, he said, which will be "mainly the local post office in each case".

In other words, he said, customers should – after the changes – get a slip saying their package is at a particular local post office, while today the slip may point them towards the sorting hub which serves that postcode.

"We are in consultation with our staff and unions on the details of the move," he said. An Post would share the schedule for the moves and local arrangements once they are finalised, he said.

It's not just the southside, either, where sorting hubs are on the move. This is part of a larger plan to consolidate An Post depots across the city.

"Among these will be the An Post delivery offices in Harmonstown, Dublin 5, and Griffith Avenue in Whitehall, Dublin 9, moving to a new north Dublin delivery hub," said Minister of State Noel Grealish, an independent TD, in the Dáil in June.

"An Post states that the proposed move is scheduled for the second quarter of next year," he said.

What's the plan?

Local councillors hadn't had much information about the proposal to move the depots, said Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon and People Before Profit Councillor Hazel de Nortúin on Thursday.

Yesterday, de Nortúin set up a petition online calling on An Post not to consolidate its postal depots.

The petition – which has attracted 1,500 signatures so far – raises two concerns.

Number one is that locals in Dublin 8, 10, and 12 would have to somehow get out to Lucan to collect missed packages.

Number two is that postal workers who have set up their lives around the existing depots will face long commutes to and from Lucan for work.

A spokesperson for An Post said by email that changes are coming citywide over the next couple of years, driven by the changes in the postal services that customers use.

"Over this year and next, a number of our Dublin delivery offices will be relocating to new delivery hubs which we need to deal with increased parcel volumes and upgrading our delivery network across the city," he said.

"The huge growth in parcel volumes, driven by an increase in home shopping and ecommerce, means that we need larger and repurposed premises to cater for the needs of the business, our staff and the communities we serve," he said.

"Many of our current delivery offices lack the space, car parking and general facilities for staff required by this higher volume of business," said the spokesperson.

So, An Post's existing facility in Fonthill will be repurposed to house delivery offices for D12, D10 and D8.

"Our D12 (Crumlin delivery office) is scheduled to move to Fonthill at the end of this year, with D8 (Whiteheather) and D10 (Ballyfermot) moving there in 2027," he said.

The plan for the building in Whiteheather Industrial Estate, in Dolphin's Barn, meanwhile, is that it becomes the new base for the Rathmines post depot that has been in the old art deco building in that neighbourhood.

Late last month, over-the-counter services moved from that Rathmines building, down the road to the Centra.

In Rathmines, the last hours of the old art-deco post office

What comes now?

Dublin InQuirerMichael Lanigan