POSTMEN AND POSTWOMEN will now not just deliver the post, but they will also ring the bell to check in on older and vulnerable people living in communities around the country.

A new service will also mean they will now take parcels and letters from the elderly and vulnerable – around 160,000 homes – and distribute them for free.

In addition, An Post will also be providing two free postcards to every home in the country so people can write to their loved ones.

An Post is also working with the National Newspapers of Ireland on a new scheme which will see postmen and women delivering local and national newspapers to people’s homes.

People can register for the new service, which will start next week. The service will first be offered to the elderly and the most vulnerable, before being rolled out to others. There will be no extra cost for the delivery. 

An Post’s David McRedmond told reporters that the men and women that work in the postal service are a well-known face and trusted point of connection for most people in the community.

Postmen and women will now take messages and connect to local shops and pharmacist and through to a wider network of support organisations, to ensure that the needs of the elderly and those in need are being met. 

“They’ll go in with a set of questions such as, do they need food, do they need pharmacy, do they need to send out messages?

“The postman or postwomen will then take that back and we will look after that and make sure that that gets fulfilled,” he said. 

“We will start doing this today, and all public health social and physical distancing guidelines will be operating by every postman at every door, every time,” said McRedmond.

The set of measures “have been developed between Government and An Post, and the Communications Workers Union, with ideas coming from the postmen and postwomen,” he added. 

The announcement was made during the launch of the new Covid-19 booklet which will be delivered, for free from An Post, to every household in the country. You can download the booklet here.