CHRISTMAS CAME early to Dublin’s GPO this year. Very early in fact, with the very first Santa letter arriving in June.
Yesterday, as children on the ground floor looked wide-eyed at the crib, penguins, polar bears and elves that make up the Christmas display, An Post workers upstairs continued to sort some of the 140,000 Santa letters destined for the North Pole which come through the country’s largest post office, on O’Connell Street in the capital.
The letters come in all shapes and sizes, some brightly decorated with drawings of reindeer, snowmen and Santa hats. Many asking after Mrs Claus, the elves and reindeer, while others get straight to the point:
“Dear Santa,” reads one. “This is my list. I want the Hexbugs the most. And a Merry Christmas.”
Some are more ambitious; one little boy notes that his mother told him this year’s presents would have to be “limited” before going on to list 10 specific presents as well as “a few surprises”. Others are very specific: “Dear Santa. If I have been good this year I would like a light pink and white sports bike, size 24.”
Hundreds of “An Post elves” are on hand each year to help, Eimear Breen explained, adding that the service had been provided for 25 years. “We sort out the letters for delivery to the North Pole and put them in order for Santa to read them, because if Santa had to go through all the letters himself he’d be there until next Christmas.”
After having made its special deliveries to the North Pole, An Post returns on Christmas week to collect replies to all the letters it has handled and deliver them to the boys and girls of Ireland.
But the GPO’s festive spirit is not limited to children. Adults can join in too, and this year is the 20th in which the GPO hosts a choir each weekday lunchtime.
Dubbed “Noel’s carols”, the choir is led by Noel Carroll, a violinist and manager in the GPO’s public office who is joined by a pianist, staff and customers.
“They might come in to buy stamps or pay bills but they actually come along and sing and dance and get very much involved in it,” Mr Carroll said, adding that An Post makes an annual donation to charity for the event.