A Donegal councillor is calling on the Government to introduce a new annual public holiday every July in honour of St. Colmcille.
Raising the issue at the May meeting of Donegal Co. Council, Cllr. Jimmy Kavanagh pointed out that there are three patron saints of Ireland, namely St. Patrick, St. Bridget and St Colmcille (Columba).
St. Patrick’s Day has long been a public holiday on March 17th while the Republic’s newest public holiday, St. Bridget’s Day, was introduced in 2023, and is on the first Monday of February.
“We are behind other countries in terms of public holidays,” he stated. “The EU average is 12.8 days; we have ten. Australia has 12, Japan has 17.”
While the feast day for Colmcill is in June, that month already has a bank holiday.
Cllr. Kavanagh pointed out that there is currently no public holiday in July and felt that the first Monday in July would be ideal for the new public holiday.
The feast day for Colmcille is June 9th. He was born in December 521 and died in June 597. However, Cllr. Kavanagh explained that as there are already other public holidays in June and He added that a new Colmcille public holiday could boost tourism in Donegal in July and events associated with the saint could also be promoted.
The motion from Cllr. Kavanagh, calling on the local authority to write to the Irish Government requesting the new public holiday was passed.
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