An Post CEO: Price of a stamp 'irrelevant' as further hike announced for February 

An Post CEO said his decision to join the company was due its 'phenomenal brand' despite the view that it was 'sleepy' and 'did nothing'

University College Cork UCC Commerce Conference guest speaker David McRedmond, Chief Executive Officer, An Post at the podium at the Commerce conference on Thursday 29th January 2026. Picture: Larry Cummins

Chief executive of An Post, David McRedmond, warned young entrepreneurs to “get the price right” when starting a business, as he looked back on the cost hikes he implemented on stamps shortly after joining the company.

Speaking to business students at University College Cork’s (UCC) annual commerce conference, the CEO said: “The price of a stamp is irrelevant, whether it's 70c or €1 or €2. But the price of all your stamps together is very relevant to An Post.

“I got the law changed to remove the price cap, and I increased the price by 40%.” 

Mr McRedmond said that while he first planned to hike the price to 95c, he decided after speaking with a focus group to raise it further to €1.

“The focus group said that increasing the price to €1 was terrible, a disgrace, price-gouging and would destroy the company.

“So then I asked the focus group about raising it to 95c. They said it was terrible, its price-gouging and would destroy the company. So I said okay, put it up to €1.” 

Since Mr McRedmond took over as chief executive of An Post in 2016, the price of a stamp has more than doubled. At 72c in his first year, the price of a postal stamp now costs €1.65.

In February, that price is set to rise further, increasing by 20c to €1.85. An Post said the price increases were carefully calculated to cover the cost of providing a "world-class" national letter service, taking account of wage increases for postal staff, increased operating costs and declining letter volumes.

Speaking on his first price hike as CEO, Mr McRedmond said the additional 5c earned by charging €1 instead of 95c made €20m.

“The next year, we made €20m profit, for the first year ever. Price is critical.” 

Before taking up the top job in An Post, Mr McRedmond was the chief executive of TV3, leading the sale of the channel to Virgin Media in 2015. The CEO said his decision to work for An Post after years in the private sector was due to its brand.

“The view on An Post was it was sleepy, did nothing and was just a dying world. Having worked all my life in the private sector, I went there because it was a phenomenal brand – one of the great.

“If you have a great brand, you can achieve amazing things. That’s what I and my team set out to achieve.”