Sir, – The revelation by Eircode chief Liam Duggan ("Eircode chief defends use of seven-digit code system", July 6th) that grid-based postcodes are in his words "utterly useless" may come as a shock to the rest of the developed world.
The only thing a grid-based design cannot do over Eircodes’ poorly structured “random” design is offer a unique postcode to every apartment in a block.
Grid-based postcodes are perfect for reporting all emergencies (both dwelling and non-dwelling, such as road traffic accidents ), perfect for goods deliveries and perfect for the public and tourists. They are simple, easily understood and can be put on street signs and along way-marked trails. An Eircode needs a computer or app to decipher and amazingly is not compatible with street signs because they don’t have a letterbox.
Does Ireland want a confusing random postcode or a structured smart postcode designed to facilitate the needs of our emergency services, citizens, businesses and visitors. Even at the eleventh hour it is still not too late to change the code to something useful. – Yours, etc,
GAVIN TOBIN
Ethos Technology,
Rathcoole,
Co Dublin.