Small firms seek special rural postal deal

SMALL businesses association ISME yesterday demanded special arrangements for mail deliveries to companies in rural areas whose operations could be threatened by prolonged industrial action at sub-post offices.

An Post said disruption to mail schedules yesterday was minimal, but the Irish Postmaster's Union (IPU) warned of postal backlogs before the weekend. IPU general secretary John Kane said "industrial action will continue indefinitely and its bite will be felt by the end of this week." An Post is making special provision to avoid delays today in CAO offers being posted to 47,099 third-level hopefuls, though a majority of students were expected to access results from 6am on a CAO website, www.cao.ie.

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises' Jim Curran said the An Post decision to isolate CAO offers from the general mail was commendable, but suggested the special service should be extended to the business community.