Licensing laws in Northern Ireland can leave a business owner feeling like Santa, as they always need to be checked twice. Adding to the complexities, are the Christmas Licensing Hours which changes the hours of business for all Licensed premises.
Introduced under the Licensing and registration of Clubs (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland), these regulations limit the opening times for alcohol sales during the festive period.
- On Christmas Eve – Licensed premises are able to sell alcohol from 11:30am to 11pm with an hour of drinking up time. Premises with a late extension can serve until 12:00am. However, off-Licences which operate as shops are able to sell from 8am to 11pm
- On Christmas Day – All licensed premises can sell from 12:30pm to 10pm with no exceptions. Drinking up time remains an hour, whilst all off-licences are to be closed all day.
- On New Year’s Eve – All premises can operate as a normal trading day with all late extensions applying and a drinking up time of 1 hour.
It is important that these Christmas hours are adhered to, but it is also important that during the Christmas period business owners ensure they are following the standard regulations also. During Christmas with plenty of parties and crowds of customers, it becomes easier to forget the regulations all licensed premises have to adhere to, and the specific requirements that are attached to an individual licence.
If you are having any issues with adhering to licensing requirements, renewing licenses or if you have an interest in extending your hours of business, O’Reilly Stewart can assist.
Our Northern Irish leading licensing team led by Seamus McGranaghan, is on hand to assist and advise with any matters a license owner or perspective licence owner may have.
Contact 02890321000 or email seamusmcgranaghan@oreillystewart.com if you need any support both in the holiday season and beyond.
Enjoy the Christmas period, dress warm and stay safe both personally and professionally