Call for Good Friday to be made a bank holiday

Good Friday should be made a bank holiday for all workers in Ireland, according to a Labour Party senator.

Marie Sherlock said the day is a public holiday in the UK and in a lot of places across Europe and bringing the measure in would ensure fairness and basic respect to those who work on Good Friday when others are off or on reduced hours.

“It’s a unique day in the Irish calendar,” she said on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne.

She also said that more than likely the people working on Good Friday are going to be those in the hospitality or retail sectors, who tend to be lower paid members of the working population.

Ms Sherlock also said some people are forced to take an annual leave day today because their office is closed.

However, the Chief Executive of ISME, which represents small and medium-sized businesses, said the move would attach premium pay to those who work today.

Speaking on the same programme, Neil McDonnell said it would formally close others firms that do not, and as a result, there would be a cost increase for all employers.

He said that it was the wrong time for this, given the significant increase in labour costs already this year due to Government changes to work-related benefits such as sick pay.

“This move would make it significantly worse,” he said.