Easter Licensing Hours

Following the enactment of the Licensing and Registration of Clubs (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2021, hospitality businesses are able to trade as normal during the Easter holidays. Prior to this Act, restrictions were in place to limit the hours during which alcohol could be sold by licensed premises.
Under the Licensing (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, licensed premises were only allowed to trade between the hours of 5:00pm to 11:00pm on Good Friday, a highly restrictive constraint for licence holders. The permitted trading hours for Sundays were restricted so that licensed premises could only start trading at 12:30pm and must stop serving alcohol by 10:00pm. This contrasted with the standard 11:30am to 11:00pm which was in place for the other days of the week. In addition, off-licences could only commence trading at 10:00am on Sundays as opposed to the opening time of 8:00am which was consistent with the rest of the week. Together, these restrictions have adversely affected hospitality businesses, causing them to lose out economically, while also acting as a source of bewilderment to tourists who are often confused that such restrictions can exist for religious reasons.
However, these restrictions have been lifted, granting more freedom to business owners who can now allow customers to have an alcoholic beverage with their lunch on Good Friday or stay out late on Easter Sunday. The permitted trading hours for licensed premises on Sundays have now been brought in line with the rest of the week and all restrictions regarding Good Friday have been lifted. This is a welcome change for hospitality businesses who can use the public holiday to maximise sales.
As such, the licensing hours for the Easter holidays are:
Holy Thursday (28th March 2024)
11:30am – 11:00pm (or 1:00am with additional hours order or 2:00am with a further additional hours order)
Good Friday (29th March 2024)
11:30am – 11:00pm (or 1:00am with additional hours order or 2:00am with a further additional hours order)
Easter Saturday
11:30am – 11:00pm (or 1:00am with additional hours order or 2:00am with a further additional hours order)
Easter Sunday
11:30am – 11:00pm (or 1:00am with additional hours order or 2:00am with a further additional hours order)
These hours are subject to an additional one hour of drinking up time, meaning that some licensed premises could stay open until 3:00am on Easter Sunday.
The Licensing Team at O’Reilly Stewart Solicitors can offer expert advice to any businesses who wish to grow their licensing trade in line with the freedoms created by the new legislation.