Bankers Draft Vs Postal Order - NI resident - Irish Citizenship Application

[Clanso]

This is an often researched topic for the few of us applying for Irish Citizenship while being resident in Northern Ireland. (Spouse of Irish Citizen)
Some dated posts have said INIS will accept a An Post postal order in lieu of a bankers draft in Euros.
However I attempted this and would advise against it.

An Post Postal orders are only valid for six months - mine sat at INIS with the initial application for aprox one year (originally sent Sept 2021) and therefore was sent back because it was unable to be processed due to the postal order having expired. They did say to send a new one, however I did not want to risk any further delay so I got a Euro Bankers draft via Danske Bank instead.
I did this via a trustworthy friend who had an Danske Bank account, I gave them the money and the Bankers draft was then posted to their home address which I then had to collect before posting off.

I thereafter quickly received my receipt and acknowledgement letter confirming application is in process. (July 2022)
My worry is the one year delay for payment of this admin fee has delayed my application from being even started until now, and it could be another 12-23 months until I get an outcome/approval letter?!

I will be using Bankers Draft for my certificate fee when the time comes. That's for sure.

TL/DR: Don't use postal orders - they expire after six months and could delay your application from even being started/processed for over one year.
Take the time to get Bankers Draft in euros from Danske Bank - You will have to set up your own account or use trusted friend who has an account with them to get it for you.

[NFH5]

I will be using Bankers Draft for my certificate fee when the time comes. That's for sure.

You pay the €950 certificate fee online by card. So at least I got some credit card points for this hefty amount, but unfortunately not as any points as with American Express which they don't accept.