Sunday trading times pilot to begin in Belfast – what do people think?

Belfast City Council carried out an eight-week public consultation on Sunday opening hours earlier this year.

The results suggested a large majority of people in Belfast in favour of extending the opening hours – 82% compared to 16%, with 2% neutral.

However, retail workers were split with only a slight majority 48% compared to 47% in favour.

Belfast City Council considered feedback received in relation to the public consultation on Sunday opening and whether to designate Belfast as a holiday resort designation on 22 May 2026.

While the two dates during the Fleadh were decided as a pilot, a Belfast City Council spokesperson said: “Further engagement is required before agreeing to designate the city as a holiday resort on an ongoing basis allowing extended opening hours on any other Sundays and requested that options are brought forward around animating the city on Sunday mornings, as well as potential funding for these.”

“The decision was ratified by council on Monday 1 June.”

In Northern Ireland, shops with a floor space of more than 280 square metres can sell goods on Sunday between 13:00 and 18:00, excluding Easter Sunday and Christmas Day if it falls on a Sunday.

If areas are designated as holiday resorts, large shops are permitted to open at any time on up to 18 Sundays between 1 March and 30 September each year, excluding Easter Sunday.

The holiday designation means that these shops do not have to follow the restricted Sunday trading hours on those 18 days.

Some business groups across Belfast had described the pilot as “piecemeal” and said that only two Sundays during a big event week in August would not provide evidence of feasibility.