I want to be more than a number

One of the things that makes Ireland different from the rest of the western world is that we don't have post codes. In 2005 the Government announced that Ireland would have a post code system by 2008. That's when the debate started.

The first thing to emerge is that we can't agree on a system. We can't, for starters, agree that we need a system.
For example, An Post doesn't want a post code system. They claim that there is no need for a code as their address scanning technology does the job just as well and that a new system would be very costly to implement.

But many of the people who argue for a national system say that the words 'post code' shouldn't be used in the first place. This is because the postal service accounts for only a small number of the people who need to know precisely where they are going.

There's the private delivery services. There is the emergency services who regularly report getting lost in rural areas when confusion over addresses arise. There's the problem of bad writing. There's the problem of people making mistakes with 'Road', 'Avenue', 'Close', etc.
There are people who feel that the adoption of a coding system would eat into local identity of townlands, counties and so on.

However, one of the things that there is broad agreement on is that a code should relate directly to the planet. This is increasingly important with the growing popularity of GPS satnav systems and the likes of Google Maps on the internet.

Even at the moment you can use Google Earth to determine your position on the planet and then tell all your delivery services.
For example, I'm writing this column at a desk in our offices in Santry. In latitude and longitude terms the location of this desk is 53 23 32.14 -06 14 55.93. If you get Google maps on your browser and type this in, it will show you where my desk is to an accuracy of about a metre. It's pretty amazing.

It would also show any delivery service exactly where to bring my goods. In fact, many people ring our bell looking for a doctor who can be found about 30 meters up the way. If they had Google maps to hand and the right set of numbers it would save them time and save our bell.

But it's probably asking too much that everybody remember their earth co-ordinates. So we're back to the need for a simple universal system for describing locations.

What is actually required is a system similar to how the internet is organised. Although, like all computer systems, the internet is based on numbers it appears in the real world based on human-friendly names. Therefore, instead of a 12 digit number, our web name is www.dublinpeople.com. It's very easy to remember.

So why not operate Ireland's location codes in a similar way? Simply have a national system where people can register their location under a name. I could be niallgormley88, for example, and anyone who wanted to find me could enter that in a computer and my location would pop-up on screen. I'd be more than just a number.

The latest news is the the new minister Eamon Ryan has shelved the post code idea. It's not exactly clear why. In the meantime, we are going to have to do what we have always done and ask people for directions. And maybe that's not so bad after all.