The Republic has 10 public holidays each year, and there has long been talk of creating additional ones in order to bring us up to the European average of 12.
What is the origin of the current ones?
About half predate independence, with four originally legislated for in 1871 and St Patrick’s Day added in 1903. A legal entitlement to pay for the days off did not follow until 1939, however.
The far more recent addition of St Brigid’s Day (February 1st), or the first Monday in February, completes a list that now also includes: New Year’s Day; St Patrick’s Day; thefirst Monday in May, June and August; thelast Monday in October; Easter Monday; Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day.
Good Friday is a bank holiday, and while quite a few people get it off, most don’t, with it having become a normal working day for more people over the years, notably bar staff.
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Is there really a case for providing more days off?
It depends who you ask. Green Party TD Roderic O’Gorman this week said he believes there is, and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has long argued we should not be below the EU average. Cyprus tops the list, with 15, while Bulgaria and Croatia have 14, as do non-EU states Iceland and Switzerland.
At the other end of the scale, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands have just nine, although even that is more than England and Wales, which have eight apiece.
Businesses generally argue that adding to the current number would lead to an increase in already escalating costs. However, there is some disagreement within sectors such as retail and hospitality. Wages are a high proportion of employers’ outgoings, on the one hand but, on the other, many businesses tend to do well out of people having an additional day to have a meal out or go shopping.
Overall, the cost of a public holiday to the economy is put at about €350 million.
When would any new holiday fall?
There are plenty of options. Polling suggests a lot of people would like to see an existing long weekend made longer. This could be done, for instance, by making Good Friday a public holiday. Or the Christmas break could be added to.
Alternatively, July, September and November are all months when there are no holidays and we could fill in one of the gaps.
We could look abroad for inspiration. Mother’s Day is a holiday in Georgia, while National Tree Planting Day is a public holiday in Kenya and Commerce Day is a day off in Iceland.
Anyone for sporting heroes day? At least until Ray Houghton is made an actual saint.
