The closure of the Cork Mail Centre (CMC) could lead to a collapse of the Irish mail system at Christmas while it would also mean people in Cork will not be guaranteed next-day delivery, workers at the centre have warned. But the CMC Action Group disputed these figures and said the huge increase in parcels coming through the centre as more people shop online means there is sufficient business to keep the centre open. CMC Action Group member Donal Desmond told a press briefing in Cork on Tuesday the entire mail system in the Republic nearly came to a halt last Christmas such was the volume of mail and parcels it handled. It started in October but the week before Christmas it nearly ground to a halt such was the volume of mail and parcels. “If you post your letter in Cork, say, in the county, it has to go all the way up to Portlaoise to be redistributed and sent back down to Cork.

Source: The Irish Times July 16, 2019 20:37 UTC