window.dotcom = window.dotcom || { cmd: [] }; window.dotcom.ads = window.dotcom.ads || { resolves: {enabled: [], getAdTag: []}, enabled: () => new Promise(r => window.dotcom.ads.resolves.enabled.push(r)), getAdTag: () => new Promise(r => window.dotcom.ads.resolves.getAdTag.push(r)) }; setTimeout(() => { if(window.dotcom.ads.resolves){ window.dotcom.ads.resolves.enabled.forEach(r => r(false)); window.dotcom.ads.resolves.getAdTag.forEach(r => r("")); window.dotcom.ads.enabled = () => new Promise(r => r(false)); window.dotcom.ads.getAdTag = () => new Promise(r => r("")); console.error("NGAS load timeout"); } }, 5000)
Skip to content

ers say Sunday trading pilot would revitalise city

Julie McCullough & Abigail Taylor
BBC News NI
BBC Two young women look at the camera. The one on the left has brown hair tied back, wearing dangly earrings and a green coloured top. The one on the left is smiling. She has long brown hair caught back with sunglasses and is wearing a pale coloured top that is off one shoulder.BBC
Niamh Lawson and Ceri Swain are excited to have more time to go shopping

Extending the hours that bigger shops are able to trade on a Sunday in the city would help "revitalise and regenerate" Belfast, a key er of the scheme has said.

Currently shops bigger than 280 sq m can only open between 13:00 and 18:00, while there are no restrictions on smaller shops.

On Thursday night Belfast City Council discussed a proposal by the Alliance Party to allow shops to open from 10:00 on Sunday for a six-week pilot.

Alliance councillor Michael Long said he hoped the pilot would start in August.

Councillor Michael Long with short grey hair is smiling at the camera. He is wearing a purple shirt with a diamond pattern on it.
Councillor Michael Long hopes shops could be able to open on a Sunday morning at 10:00

Long said Sunday morning in the city centre was a "bit of a ghost town," especially for tourists.

The council has commissioned a report on the impact of extending the trading hours and will consult with unions and businesses and take legal advice before the matter returns to elected representatives.

Liam English with short grey hair and a goatee beard looks at the camera. He is wearing a navy coat with a light blue striped shirt underneath.
Liam English from the Trade Union Usdaw says extended trading would interfere with his ' family time

But Liam English, from the trade union Usdaw which represents shop-workers, said it was "very disappointed" at the proposal.

"For the past 10 years we've been campaigning to not extend the Sunday trading hours in the Belfast area," he told BBC News NI.

Mr English said there had been no prior discussion with the union and he was asking the council not to go ahead with the pilot.

"Our are telling us to work a Sunday they are being pressurised from some of these companies", he said.

He added that if it went ahead "their family time is going to be given up".

What time can shops open in Belfast on Sundays?

When shops are allowed to open depends on the size of their premises.

Shops with a floor space of more than 280 sq m can trade from 13:00 until 18:00 BST on Sundays, according to Belfast City Council.

However, if Easter Sunday or Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, they must remain closed all day with some exceptions, such as petrol stations, airport shops, or pharmacies.

Smaller shops face no timed restrictions on Sundays and can choose when to open.

Mixed reactions on the streets of Belfast

Niamh Lawson and Ceri Swain, both 19, initially thought extending shopping hours on a Sunday was positive.

"Sundays are when most people off so being able to have longer hours, more time to go shopping is wonderful," said Ms Lawson.

However Ms Swain said she then thought it might make the city centre too busy at a time when it is normally quiet.

"When you're going into a café on a Sunday morning, it's now going to be packed, I suppose," she said.

But they both agreed they would come and try it out if a pilot went ahead.

A man with short grey hair and sunglasses looks at the camera. He has a bag over his shoulder and is wearing a blue t-shirt. A woman stands slightly behind him with short blonde hair and sunglasses. She is wearing a blue tope with a white coloured pattern.
Tourists Colin and Susan Harrington say there is no need for the shops to be open on a Sunday morning

Colin and Susan Harrington, visiting Belfast on holiday from the north of England, said they did not believe the shops needed to open earlier on a Sunday.

Mrs Harrington said Sunday was a day for family and not for shopping.

"We have the family for Sunday dinner, so we all stay at home," she told BBC News NI.

Her husband said he hoped the people who worked shops were given the choice about whether they wanted to work on a Sunday or not.

"If they have to, and they need the money, which most of us do, then C'est La Vie - that's what they're gonna have to do, you know":[]}