Irish workers to enjoy extra day off as bank holiday 2026 changes confirmed
The complete list of Irish bank holidays for 2025 and 2026 has been confirmed, serving as a handy guide for anyone plotting out trips, family gatherings or a much-needed respite. This year sees a total of 10 bank holidays, with the majority of workers entitled to paid leave on these days under the Organisation of Working Time Act, reports the Irish Mirror.
Most businesses and schools shut down, while other services like public transport continue to run but often on limited schedules. So far, we've had four bank holidays - in January, February, March and April - with the next one just around the corner: the May bank holiday, which falls next week, on Monday, May 5.
Another follows in June, then August and October, before we round off the year with Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day. Looking forward to 2026, there's a significant change in store: St Stephen's Day (December 26) will land on a Saturday.
This means that most employees will be entitled to a substitute benefit - essentially, an extra day off - as compensation for the public holiday falling on a weekend. Under Citizen's Information guidelines: "If the public holiday falls on a day which is not a normal working day for that business (for example, on Saturday or Sunday), you are still entitled to benefit for that public holiday. However, you do not have any automatic legal entitlement to have the next working day off work."
As confirmed by the Irish Government, employers are required to provide one of the following options:
a paid day off within a month of that day
an additional day of annual leave
an additional day of pay
Come next year's festive season, this update will translate into a welcome extra break for numerous Irish workers. Looking ahead to 2027, the impact will be even more significant, as both Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day are scheduled to fall on a weekend - specifically, Saturday and Sunday. Depending on the arrangements made by employers, many employees might find themselves enjoying two additional days off.
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