Analysis: We love the Irish Bank Holiday, but where does it come from, when is it, and who decides when it’s next?
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We love Irish bank holidays. We love to talk about Bank Holiday weather and Bank Holiday traffic, we love to plan for it, and we love to lament when Bank Holiday is over. But where do their names come from? And who decides when it happens?
“The idea of holidays, special days off, is not really new,” he says. Dr. Coleman A. Dennehy, Institute of Humanities, UCD. “It’s probably been around since the High Middle Ages. If you take all the holidays into account, they probably had more holidays than we do.”
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From the RTÉ archives, Jacqueline Hayden reports for RTÉ News on weekend activity during the June bank holiday across the country in 1982.
During the Middle Ages and early modern times, important holidays and festival days were often recognized in different regions of the country. Dennehy said they may center around local traditions, crops, religious observances, holidays, or even locally famous saints.
But Dennehy says those days were largely eroded as urbanization increased in the 19th century and people moved from farms to factories. For example, the Bank of England had around 40 days off, but by the 1860s this had changed dramatically.
It’s not a good idea to speculate that it’s actually the banks’ fault that we call this day a bank holiday. Dating back to 1871 when Ireland was still under British rule, it was the Bank Holidays Act (1871) that introduced the four-day holiday. If it falls on a weekday, it will be St. Stephen’s Day, and instead of Boxing Day, he will be called December 26th. or St. Stephen’s Day – the first Monday in August, Easter Monday, Pentecost Monday.
Many of the details of the Bank Holiday Act actually relate to things like debt settlement and promissory notes.
“That’s where the name comes from,” Dennehy says. “It seems strange to people today that it’s still called a bank holiday. A lot of the details of that law are actually about things like settling debts and promissory notes.”
Congressional records show there was no major discussion about the four-day weekend. The bill was introduced by Sir John Lubbock, who was “very popular in the press as a result,” Dennehy said. In 1903, the Irish Bank Holidays Act added St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th as a bank holiday, giving the country a public holiday on that day. The bill passed through the Westminster parliament and was sponsored by a number of “domestic rulers” including James O’Mara, John Redmond, William O’Brien, John Dillon, and George William Russell.
Another few decades pass and Ireland becomes a free country. At this point in history, the Holidays Act (1924) was essentially passed to resolve a technical legal issue and formally repeal British legislation. Mr Dennehy said Kevin O’Higgins, then deputy leader of the Executive Council (Government), had said the bill was “not significant”.
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From RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland, Professor Alvin Jackson talks about John Redmond’s important role in Irish history.
However, in a debate in the Dail in 1924, Thomas Johnson TD, leader of the Labor Party and leader of the Dublin Republican Party, urged his fellow politicians to consider the plight of the ‘working people’. He said: “Of course the word vacation sounds nice and nice, but it’s mentally easier when you take vacation if you get paid on the same day. , taking a vacation means forfeiting your paycheck for the day.
“I would like the Minister to consider inserting a clause in the Bill that would guarantee workers who are entitled to a day off by law a daily wage for that day off. I think this is a general suggestion. Certainly, it would be justice for the men who were deprived of the opportunity to earn a living by the law. ”
But this was “largely ignored, perhaps unsurprisingly in Ireland in the 1920s,” says Dennehy.
Ireland currently has 10 public holidays a year, lower than the EU average of 12 days.
In 1939, the Oireachtas passed the Holidays (Employees) Act, which also established the right of workers to paid holidays. This law provides for public holidays on Christmas Day, St. Stephen’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter Monday, Pentecost Monday, and the first Monday of August. Subsequently, Pentecost Monday became the first Monday of June by the amendment act of 1973, New Year’s Day was added in 1974, and in 1977 it became the first Monday of June. In 1993, a May holiday was added, and in 2022, a February holiday was added.
These days, the terms bank holiday and public holiday are used interchangeably, but all legislation now refers only to public holidays. Despite some confusion, Good Friday is a bank holiday, not a public holiday. Banks and some businesses will be closed, but you are not legally entitled to a holiday.
The latest holiday added to the list in Ireland is St Brigid’s Day on February 1st, which is also the Gaelic festival of Imbolc. It was introduced to recognize the efforts of the public, volunteers and all workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to remember those who have lost their lives to the disease.
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Fiona Byrne, Curator of Irish Folk History, on RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland, talks about the new public holiday commemorating St Bridget’s Day.
Ireland previously had a one-off public holiday when 31 December 1999 was declared a public holiday to commemorate the millennium. September 14, 2001 was designated as a National Day of Remembrance in memory of the victims of the September 11 attacks in the United States.
Who decides on new holidays?
Until the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922, it was the monarch’s job to announce new public holidays in Ireland. However, according to Article 28 of the 1922 Constitution, new public holidays could only be declared by the Executive Council on the day of a general election, Dennehy explained.
This is still true today. In other words, it is left to the government in power.
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From RTÉ Brainstorm: What Ireland’s first stamps from the 1920s told the world about the new nation
Does Ireland have many public holidays?
No, Ireland currently has 10 public holidays a year, which is lower than the EU average of 12 days. Combined with the statutory annual leave, you get 30 days of paid vacation per year, with the EU average being 34 days. That’s not all. According to Eurofound, we work an average of 39 hours a week, compared to the EU27 average of 37.8 hours.
Some TDs said they had previously called for more public holidays to bring Ireland in line with the EU average. Dr. Brenda DalyAssociate Professor, Faculty of Law and Politics, Dublin City University.
From Mr Daly’s perspective, Ireland should consider increasing public holidays for employees, saying: “I certainly would argue that there are benefits to that.”
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From RTÉ Radio 1’s Drivetime, UCD’s Dr Orla Kelly on working a four-day week
What are you entitled to on holidays?
What you are entitled to depends on your employment status. Daly explains that your holiday entitlement as an employee is set out in the Working Time Organization Act 1997 and his Working Time Organization (Determination of Holiday Pay) Regulations 1997. Most full-time workers are entitled to paid time off on official days. However, some part-time workers are exempt.
If you are eligible for holiday pay, you are entitled to one of the following: paid holiday leave, an additional day of annual leave, an extra day’s pay, or paid time off within one month of the holiday.
This is a little different for part-time workers. He is only eligible for paid vacation or alternative pay if he has worked 40 hours in the past five weeks leading up to the holiday. If she has to work on that day, she is entitled to an additional day’s salary. She should receive one-fifth of her weekly salary even if she is not scheduled to work that day.
The most important thing to remember is to always check your employment contract first and foremost, says Daly. Qualifications vary depending on where you work and who you work for. Employers may also have specific industry agreements with trade unions. It may also vary depending on whether there is an agency agreement.
Diary dates: List of public holidays in Ireland
New Year’s Day (January 1st)
St. Brigid’s Day (first Monday of February each year, unless February 1st is a Friday)
St. Patrick’s Day (March 17)
Easter Monday (date changes each year)
May holidays (first Monday in May)
June holidays (first Monday in June)
August holidays (first Monday of August)
October holidays (last Monday of October)
Christmas Day (December 25th)
St. Stephen’s Day (December 26)
The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ.