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Sending Christmas cards to friends and family is always a nice thing to do during the festive period. But the last thing you want to do is to send them too early, or, worse still, too late. An Post has issued the dates that you need to keep in mind when posting cards. They've outlined dates for sending within Ireland and to other countries around the world. For the Republic of Ireland, if you want to make sure that your cards or parcels arrive before Christmas you need to send them before December 21st. You can of course send them through express post on the 22nd of December but it will cost you more. For Northern Ireland, through standard post, you need to send cards or parcels by December 20th. It's one day earlier for the UK and Europe with cards needing to be sent by December 19th. While parcels for your European friends will need to go by December 13th. If you're looking to send them further, like America, then you'll need to post them by December 12th. Parcels to the States will need to be sent by December 9th. Everywhere else in the world is the 7th of December for cards and parcels. Here is the full breakdown: Also, handy to keep in mind is when An Post will be open during the festive period.