# Good Friday - public or bank holiday?



## Bronte (18 Feb 2011)

This year it's the 22nd April. It's a Church holiday, the banks are closed but it's not a bank holiday. Or is it a public holiday and the banks are open. Can never remember this.

I know that some people work on this day so technically it's a normal working day. Does it mean that the pubs are closed, that hotels are open and that restaurants are closed or open and also the would Dunnes and Penneys be open?


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## liaconn (18 Feb 2011)

I don't think it's a bank holiday. An awful lot of businesses stay open that would normally close on bank holidays (which are usually a Monday).


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## DB74 (18 Feb 2011)

It's a Bank Holiday NOT a Public Holiday

Same as 27-Dec


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## Bronte (18 Feb 2011)

And what exactly is or isn't open.  Banks are closed coz it's a bank holiday but workplaces are open because it's not a public holiday, but what about restaurants and hotels?


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## TarfHead (18 Feb 2011)

It's a normal working day for many in the services sector. Since you mention hotels and restaurants, there is the no-alcohol aspect of Good Friday to remember.

But that could, and probably has, deserve it's own thread.


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## DB74 (18 Feb 2011)

It's up to each individual business to open or not. In some cases, eg offices & govt buildings, the day is traditionally given as a extra paid days holiday but it is actually at the discretion of the employer, subject to a potential court challenge under the law in relation to common practices eventually forming part of your contract.


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## fizzelina (18 Feb 2011)

Bronte said:


> This year it's the 22nd April. It's a Church holiday, the banks are closed but it's not a bank holiday. Or is it a public holiday and the banks are open. Can never remember this.
> 
> I know that some people work on this day so technically it's a normal working day. Does it mean that the pubs are closed, that hotels are open and that restaurants are closed or open and also the would Dunnes and Penneys be open?


 
Dunnes, Penneys and all shopping centres would be open. Most restaurants would open too (in my locality anyway)


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## tosullivan (18 Feb 2011)

its a Bank Holiday but not your typical one.  Most schools close, all pubs except if you're in Limerick on a big match day are closed.  No entitlement to get off work.


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## huskerdu (18 Feb 2011)

The term Bank Holiday has no legal meaning at all. 
Good Friday is not a public holiday. It is a normal work day, but a lot of businesses close, for tradition. 

The only legal restriction on Good Friday, is that alcohol cannot be sold, so restaurants that open will not be serving alcohol.  Youcould rant abnout that all day,
if you had the time or energy....


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## allthedoyles (18 Feb 2011)

The annual entitlement to holiday leave is  = 4 working weeks in a leave year in which he or she works at least 1,365 hours .

This is 20 days , and in my employment one of the days include 1/2 day Good Friday and 1/2 day Christmas Eve .

Good Friday *is not a public holiday*. While some schools and businesses close on that day, you have no automatic entitlement to time off work on that day. 

The Banks alway's close on Good Friday .


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## PaddyBloggit (18 Feb 2011)

allthedoyles said:


> While some schools and businesses close on that day



All primary schools and secondary schools will be closed on the day and always have been.

Good Friday is right smack in the middle of the Easter holidays. Easter closures are also now part of the prescribed standardised school year so staying open can't be an option for any school.


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## becky (18 Feb 2011)

It's recorded as a concession day for me (admin HSE).  Staff such as nursing, medics are expected to work as normal.

A friend of mine told me that years ago, bank staff were required to come into work but the bank wasn't open to the public.

I remember shops closing for a few hours during the 'holy' time and re-opening later.  I know a few people in the private sector who get it off.  Some have to take annual leave, others get it in addition to their annual leave.

But as other posters point out there is no automatic entitlement.


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## BillK (18 Feb 2011)

During the 40 years of my working life I have never worked on Good Friday.


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## Brendan Burgess (18 Feb 2011)

It's always a bank holiday, unless it falls on a weekend. 

brendan


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## NovaFlare77 (18 Feb 2011)

Brendan Burgess said:


> It's always a bank holiday, unless it falls on a weekend.
> 
> brendan


 
   Good one!!!


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## allthedoyles (19 Feb 2011)

PaddyBloggit said:


> All primary schools and secondary schools will be closed on the day and always have been.
> 
> Good Friday is right smack in the middle of the Easter holidays. Easter closures are also now part of the prescribed standardised school year so staying open can't be an option for any school.


 
Wrong Paddy - Yeats College in Waterford/Galway are open on Friday 22nd April and indeed are always open on Good Fridays for Easter revision courses .

So some schools are open on Good Friday .


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## PaddyBloggit (19 Feb 2011)

I'm still right ... DES funded schools in the primary, secondary and vocational sectors are closed Good Friday ... always have been and still do because of the standardised school closure arrangements.

What individual schools (DES funded) do about revision etc. is their own business but they can't be officially open if DES funded.

Yeats' College is private so it's not subject to the standardised school year. It can work Christmas Day if it wants.

I should have, perhaps, clarified my posting more but I was commenting on the public system which is in the majority so I didn't see any need for a clarification.

Let me clarify myself ... I was commenting on the majority of schools which operate under DES rules & regulations. I wasn't commenting on private schools.


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## thesimpsons (19 Feb 2011)

BillK said:


> During the 40 years of my working life I have never worked on Good Friday.


 

in 30 years of working I've always worked Good Friday - except when I lived in Australia for 2 years and there it was a public holiday.


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## sblandscapin (21 Feb 2011)

its a bank holiday


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## DB74 (21 Feb 2011)

My diary only refers to Public Holidays, not Bank Holidays

Good Friday is a bank holiday because the banks are closed but it is NOT a public holiday

Just like 27-Dec


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## Black Sheep (22 Feb 2011)

Good Friday is the *only* bank holiday of the year and therefore has no employment right to a day off. It may be custom and practice in banks and most State and other offices to have the day off.

There are nine Public Holidays in the year which come with entitlement to a paid day off.


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