Derry: Christmas postal delays were ‘out of control’, union says

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”.