On Bank Holidays

Both Ireland and the UK have bank holidays, though the exact dates differ (Ireland has different dates than Northern Ireland, and Scotland has different dates yet). Prior to 1834 there were 33 saints’ days that banks closed on; however, in that year the number was reduced to four: Good Friday, May Day, All Saints’ Day, and Christmas Day. In an attempt to regain some of those days, Sir John Lubbock introduced and passed the Bank Holidays Act in 1871. In 1903, St. Patrick’s Day was added as a Bank Holiday for Ireland, but not the UK. Today, Bank Holidays in Ireland are: New Year’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter Monday, May Day, June Bank Holiday (the first Monday in June), Summer Bank Holiday (the first Monday in August), October Bank Holiday (the last Monday in October – which is what this upcoming Monday is!), Christmas Day, and St. Stephen’s Day. Banks are closed on Bank Holidays, and people are allowed to postpone most payments until the following day. Currently, Ireland is considering adding two additional holidays to have the same number as the rest of Europe (so apparently they just get days off all the time over here in addition to their working shorter work weeks). Employers, however, are not legally required to give these days off, but pretty much everyone outside of the essential service industry has them off. In the case of a holiday falling on a weekend, those people that would have the day off are either given another day that month off or an extra day’s worth of pay, though typically they are given the next available weekday off. In Ireland, while Easter Monday is given as a holiday, the Friday before Easter is not, though all banks and public institutions close.

It’s kind of old, but here you go: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9806E1DB143BF934A35754C0A9629C8B63

Well I guess it’s pretty obvious what I think of that.