Despite the convenience and reliability of fax and e-mail, those relatively new kids on the communications block, the nation's Postman Pats and their sacks of letters - or snail mail, as computer junkies disparagingly call letter post - are still very much alive and kicking. Sean Citizen's continued use of direct mail was one of the factors behind record annual profits at An Post, where the pre-tax outrun improved £2 million to £14 million - the organisation's best-ever performance. Group turnover rose by nearly £38 million to £369 million, income from the letter post division rising 11.6 per cent to £231 million, again providing the bedrock of earnings. General elections are good for An Post with all that political bumph dropping through the nation's letter boxes. Last year's election was worth £9.5 million but, discounting that exceptional income, turnover increased by a respectable 7.5 per cent. Chief executive, John Hynes says that growth trends were evident in all business sectors, with direct mail putting in a particularly encouraging performance, delivering 640 million individual items of mail last year. However, stripping out the tax charge, post-tax profit was only marginally ahead at £6.27 million, leaving operating margins vulnerable to the intensity of competition which will flow from the liberalisation of markets with around 25 per cent of the letters market open to competition by 2003.

An Post is agreeably proud of its ability to contain costs to the customer. The cost of posting a letter has not risen over the last seven years. Indeed, the standard letter rate was reduced from 32p to 30p, although postcard prices went up from 28p to 30p. An Post is oft criticised, its public service function generally taken for granted. Now, it's time to start licking those stamps. Your local post office needs the business.