Be Eircode "Where Aware"

Those responsible for organisational health & safety, for safety infrastructure & those who provide emergency responce MUST take more care and be more "Where Aware" when it comes to Eircode ..... Where does it point to & Where does it lead to? Check both Location & Routing before having to rely on it especially in an emergency!

The Eircode shown both on the above Defib Cabinet and in the tweet is not at the Castleblayney Hurling Pitch. In fact, the Pitch has NO Eircode. We responded to the tweet raising concerns but without reply.

The image above encapsulates everything we have been warning about when it comes to Eircode:-

• It was not checked
  
• The code applies to a house on the opposite side of the road from the pitch
• If the code is used for routing in Google Maps it will not only not direct to the Hurling Pitch, it will also misroute away from the actual location it was intended for into the driveway of another adjacent house

So this Eircode is intended for one location, it belongs to another location but misroutes to a third one.
Yet, the Department of Communications, Capita, who run Eircode, and An Post, who support the whole thing by the provision of their addressing system GeoDirectory, for more than 7 years have collectively failed to warn of these known issues and encourage the Public to be more Eircode "Where Aware" by checking their codes. Our last article on this matter here refers to  the answer to a Parliamentary Question by Minister Eamon Ryan, who is responsible for Eircode, on 11th July last where he admits issues with Eircode and, therefore, that it can cause misrouting. Yet, the Public and, in this case, Castleblayney Hurling Club and the owner of the property who's Eircode they are using, have not been made aware of these issues and encouraged to check things thoroughly before relying on an Eircode for any aspect of emergency response. It is equally worrying that response agencies involved in identifying the location of the Defib and undertaking related Community Response have themselves not yet taken time to understand the issues and warn the Public either.

Some of you might suggest that sure wont the Eircode shown get someone into the right area and the instructions in the tweet will make it clear that the Defib is in the Hurling Pitch. Unfortunately, this may be true for some very few but, as the marketing about Eircode has been that it is always unquestionably "precise", it has become the norm to communicate Eircodes without supporting address information or instructions. Eircode (Capita) encourage people to blindly put an Eircode into Google Maps or other and navigate to it. In this case, that would lead to the user ending up in the driveway of a private house;- maybe desperately searching around the building in the darkness of night for a Defib which would not only delay the use of the Defib to save someone's life but it could also also potentially cause an altercation between the property owner and the unwanted visitors.

Of course, Community First Responders or an ambulance intended for the property at the Eircode shown could also misrouted to the wrong property. When the impression has been promoted that Eircode is precise without question;- responders are not prepared to consider the other possibilities and this is likely to  cause confusion and delays. The notion that the "nearest Eircode" will do, as is now being widely suggested by State Agencies involved with and using Eircode, undermines the notion of precision imagined for the national postcode and belies the claim that it is the panacea for emergency response.

To address you directly Minister Ryan (who under the terms of the Postal Act must control the "appropriate" non postal service use of the national postcode) it is clear from your PQ answers and other information, that you are very much aware of the issues with Eircode. Therefore, if you do not take urgent action to advise and guide the Public in order to avoid very predictable potential adverse outcomes associated with its use (misuse), it is inevitable that you and your Departmental Staff and their contractors will be held directly responsible.

As for the Castleblayney Hurling Club, none of this is their fault. They have been badly advised and are the unsuspecting victims of misinformation. They need to be more "Where Aware" and take another look at the solution for them. They can feel free to contact us at www.checkyourcode.ie for free and professional advice.

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