Postal services face serious disruption from early next month following the failure of talks yesterday to resolve the postmasters' dispute.
Members of the Irish Postmasters' Union will today begin balloting to escalate their industrial action over pay by withdrawing all mail services from sub-post offices.
The ballot is to be completed by Wednesday next, with the action due to go ahead from Monday, December 2nd.
A spokesman for An Post said it was not possible to say what impact the action would have, but the company had an obligation to maintain deliveries and would meet it.
He expressed disappointment at the IPU's decision to reject "a very good offer" from the company.
If the proposed action goes ahead, it will result in mail services being available from fewer than 100 of the 1,800 post offices or sub-offices in the State.
More than 1,700 sub-post offices are run by IPU members as sub-contractors. The remaining offices are managed directly by An Post.
While most large towns have at least one company post office, people in rural areas could have to travel long distances to avail of postal services in the run-up to Christmas.
Deliveries would not be directly affected, but delays would be likely because of the increased workload at An Post-run offices, as well as the likelihood of continued unofficial pickets by postmasters at various locations.
Mr John Kane, the IPU general secretary, said yesterday's talks appeared to have been making progress but ultimately had "got nowhere".
The company's proposals had included a review of all aspects of the service provided by postmasters. The union did not have a problem with this, but there were a number of issues it needed to have addressed immediately, he said.
These included payment for opening before 8 a.m., for working Saturdays and Sundays in the run-up to Christmas and for handling an increasing volume of registered parcels and letters.
Mr Kane said the company had committed itself to paying certain increases due to members, but only on condition that its entire proposals were accepted.
Members could not accept a deal based on money to which they were already entitled, he said.
The IPU's reaction to the talks, chaired by industrial relations consultant Mr Phil Flynn, contrasted with that of An Post, which appeared to believe they had gone well.
Speaking after the talks, but before the IPU publicly rejected the outcome, Mr Eamonn Ryan, the managing director of the company's post offices division, said the negotiations had been "pretty constructive".
