Bank holidays

Bank holidays are holidays when banks and many other businesses are closed for the day. Public Holidays are holidays which have been observed through custom and practice, such as Christmas Day. Find out about the bank and public holidays in Northern Ireland and employees' rights to pay or time off.

Bank and public holiday dates

The expected dates of bank and public holidays in Northern Ireland for this year, and the next year are listed below.

Holidays 2020 2021
New Year's Day 1 January 1 January
St Patrick's Day 17 March 17 March
Good Friday 10 April 2 April
Easter Monday 13 April 5 April
Early May Bank Holiday  8 May 3 May
Spring Bank Holiday 25 May 31 May
Battle of the Boyne / Orangemen's Day 13 July 12 July
Summer Bank Holiday 31 August 30 August
Christmas Day 25 December 27 December
Boxing Day 28 December 28 December

When the usual date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the 'substitute day' is normally the following Monday. For example in 2020, Boxing Day is on Saturday 26 December, so the substitute bank holiday is Monday 28 December.

Special bank holidays

There are laws that allow the dates of bank holidays to be changed, or other holidays to be declared, for example to celebrate special occasions.

Time off for employees

You don't have a statutory right to paid leave on bank and public holidays, though many people receive the day off work. Any right to time off or extra pay for working on a bank holiday depends on the terms of your contract of employment.

You can find out more about your right to paid leave at the link below.

British Summer Time

British Summer Time (BST) starts on the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October, at 1.00 am Greenwich Mean Time (GMT):

  • in spring the clocks go forward, losing an hour - at 1.00 am GMT the UK moves to 2.00 am BST
  • in autumn the clocks go back, giving an extra hour - at 2.00 am BST the UK moves to 1.00 am GMT

This year, and next year the summer time periods begin and end on the following dates:

BST 2020 2021
Clocks go forward 29 March 28 March
Clocks go back 25 October 31 October

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