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Bank holidays

Bank holidays are public holidays when banks and many other businesses are closed for the day. Find out about the bank and public holiday dates in Northern Ireland and employees' rights to pay or time off on bank holidays.

Bank and public holiday dates

In Northern Ireland, there are currently 10 permanent bank holidays - the same eight as in England and Wales, plus St Patrick's Day and the Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

The expected dates of bank and public holidays in Northern Ireland for the next two years are listed below.

*When the usual date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the 'substitute day' is normally the following Monday. For example in 2010, Christmas Day is on Saturday, 25 December, so the substitute bank holiday is Monday, 27 December.

Northern Ireland

2010

2011

2012

New Year's Day 1 January 3 January* 2 January*
St Patrick's Day 17 March 17 March 17 March*
Good Friday 2 April 22 April 6 April
Easter Monday 5 April 25 April 9 April
Early May Bank Holiday 3 May 2 May 7 May
Spring Bank Holiday 31 May 30 May 4 June
Queen's Diamond Jubilee - - 5 June
Battle of the Boyne
(Orangemen's Day)
12 July 12 July 12 July
Summer Bank Holiday 30 August 29 August 27 August
Christmas Day 27 December* 26 December* 25 December
Boxing Day 28 December* 27 December* 26 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.

It has been announced that there will be a special bank holiday in 2012 to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The 2012 late May bank holiday will be moved to Monday 4 June 2012 and an additional Jubilee bank holiday will be on Tuesday 5 June 2012.

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.

For more information about your right to paid leave, see 'Holiday entitlements'.

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

In the next two years, the summer time periods begin and end on the following dates:

2010

2011

2012

Clocks go forward 28 March 27 March 25 March
Clocks go back 31 October 30 October 28 October

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