NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 07:08 ET
- An Post said collections and deliveries are operating through Dec. 31 before a New Year’s Day shutdown
- Post office counters are set to close on Jan. 1 and reopen on Jan. 2
- The company urged customers awaiting parcels to use its app to track items
Ireland’s postal operator An Post will run collections and deliveries through Wednesday, Dec. 31, before suspending service on New Year’s Day. The company’s published schedule shows nationwide service restarting on Friday, Jan. 2.
The year-end timetable matters for households and businesses still waiting on late Christmas parcels, cards and time-sensitive mail. An Post said it reopened post office branches after Christmas and urged customers to use its app to check parcel status and avoid unnecessary trips.
The timing is tight because New Year’s Day is a public holiday in Ireland, breaking up what would otherwise be a standard midweek run of deliveries and counter services. That can push final delivery dates into the first full working day of 2026.
Live95 in Limerick reported that full national delivery services resumed after the Christmas bank-holiday break and were set to continue through Dec. 31, offering customers a short window for late seasonal mail before the pause.
On the retail side, An Post’s holiday-hours notice lists post offices open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. local time on Dec. 31 and Friday, Jan. 2, and closed on Jan. 1. It lists reduced hours on Saturday, Jan. 3, with branches closing at 1 p.m.
Cork’s 96FM also reported that post offices will open on New Year’s Eve and reopen on Jan. 2 as delivery and retail services return to normal.
An Post uses “collections and deliveries” to describe mail and parcels being picked up and then delivered to homes and other addresses. “Retail services” refer to post office counter transactions such as sending post and collecting parcels.
Public-holiday pauses can add time to deliveries already in the network, even when sorting continues behind the scenes. That is most visible for weekday deliveries that would normally arrive on Jan. 1.
For customers sending items close to year-end, the single-day break can shift delivery expectations into early January. Those waiting on parcels can also factor in post office counter closures when planning collections.
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