Labour Party representatives in Cork city have urged Government to make Good Friday a permanent public holiday for all workers, ending its current status as a discretionary day.

Good Friday is not currently a public holiday, and while some schools and businesses close for the day, workers have no automatic entitlement to time off work that day.

Now representatives of the Labour Party in Cork city are calling for the Christian holiday, which commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary, to be made a public holiday.

Cork City Councillor John Maher described as “deeply unfair for workers in Cork” the situation as it currently stands.

“There is always confusion among workers as to whether Good Friday counts as public holiday or not,” Cllr Maher said.

“There are some employers in Cork who treat Good Friday as a discretionary day, however we know that the majority of workers in retail, tourism and hospitality fail to benefit from this.

“Labour is calling on Government to make Good Friday a bank holiday for all workers to provide equality across the board. It’s deeply unfair that some workers benefit due to the benevolence of their employer, while others do not.

Peter Horgan, Labour Party local area representative for Cork city South East said the failure to regularise the situation pointed to a Government out of touch with many workers in the economy.

“Hard work deserves reward,” Mr Horgan said.

“Even if a worker is rostered to work on a public holiday, they are entitled to a benefit either by additional annual leave at another time or additional pay. So, while some businesses opt to close that day, not every worker is treated the same. We need to fix this.” 

Laura Harmon, Labour Party local area representative for Cork City South West said the benefits of public holidays to workers, with additional time to rest, relax, and spend quality time with friends and family, were well known, but there was also a benefit to the local economy in Cork as a whole.

“Extra public holidays are just one way of improving life for workers in Cork,” Ms Harmon said.

“The introduction of the new public holiday in February was welcome, but we need to look at work across the economy as a whole and ensure its fair for all.” 

Ireland currently has 10 public holidays each year, with the most recent introduced in February of this year to mark St Brigid’s Day.

Kevin Herlihy, president of the Cork Business Association, said that, as a Catholic himself, he could understand the need for the day to be marked as a religious occasion, but he felt there was no need for an additional public holiday.

“There has already been an extra bank holiday given after Covid, in February, and from an employer perspective, we have to pay staff for these bank holidays,” Mr Herlihy said.

“I think there’s enough bank holidays and public holidays across the year as it is.” Mr Herlihy said an extra bank holiday would hit businesses unfairly and consideration should be given to employers.

“Leo Varadkar came out and gave that extra holiday without consulting employers at all in the country, and I think there’s enough public holidays there, to be very honest,” Mr Herlihy said.