Christmas postal delays in Derry became 'out of control'

The postal workers' union in Londonderry has described a backlog in delivering letters and parcels in the run-up to Christmas as a crisis that got "out of control".

Some people in Derry had expressed concern on social media that Christmas cards and hospital appointment letters had only started arriving in January.

The Communication Workers' Union (CWU) said 40 extra postal workers were brought in from England in December to help clear the backlog, but added that the problem stems from years of underinvestment and facilities unable to handle high parcel volumes.

Royal Mail said where there were "localised delays" over Christmas, teams "acted quickly to minimise disruption".

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme, Craig Anderson, the CWU regional official for Northern Ireland and Scotland, said workers had done their utmost to make deliveries on time.

"Members in Derry and elsewhere, are angry, disappointed and their heads are down with the amount of work they have done to not actually be able to deliver a service for their local community is for them a major disappointment," Anderson said.

He said this was happening in other areas, too, but there were "specific issues" in Derry.

"We had something similar a few months back in Scotland.

"Extra staff are usually brought in when there is a crisis, when things are not controllable and there is no clear way of all deliveries being done.

"We would describe what happened in Derry as a crisis, if Royal Mail brought in forty staff quite clearly the backlog and the amount of mail coming in was out of control.

The union has appealed to Royal Mail to consider opening a second sorting office in Derry to help prevent future problems.

"The facilities that some of the offices have had are not equipped for it," Anderson said.

"We would happily work with Royal Mail to look at a new site or a second site in Derry to avoid what happened during December, happening again."

A spokesperson for Royal Mail said Christmas was its "busiest time of the year", where the volume of letters and parcels it processes doubles.

"We're grateful to our posties who worked incredibly hard throughout the festive period to deliver for customers.

"The vast majority of items arrived on time, and where there were localised delays, teams acted quickly to minimise disruption and keep services moving," the spokesperson added.

Sinn Féin assembly member Pádraig Delargy backed calls for a second sorting office to be opened in Derry.

He said he had visited the current office in Derry in the run-up to Christmas.

"I was actually unable to access the back half of the office because there were so many parcels, so many pieces of equipment that were scattered around the office.

"From a worker's point of view, this is simply not a safe working space," he said.

The SDLP MLA for Foyle, Mark H Durkan, said he had stressed to Royal Mail management in late 2025 that the Derry sorting office was no longer suitable.

"I reiterated my view… that they (Royal Mail) have outgrown Great James Street, that there is the need for either new premises or additional premises."

He said Royal Mail should be "looking at somewhere that's not just physically capable of holding all the stuff coming into them but also that allows a quicker distribution across Derry".