A chara, – The 12th of July, commemorating the Battle of the Boyne, is a public holiday in Northern Ireland, and two days later here in France we have Bastille Day, the French national holiday. This year, July 14th falls on a Sunday, and in effect it’s lost as a public holiday, with all back to work on Monday. Unlike in Ireland. France doesn’t carry forward public holidays that fall on a weekend, and this includes Christmas and New Year’s Day. The Irish example amazes the French.
Of the much-vaunted 11 public holidays the French are supposed to have, invariably two or more every year fall on a weekend and so are of no real benefit. Ireland, with 10 annual transferable public holidays, has in effect more days off than France. – Is mise,
CIARÁN Mac GUILL,
Clichy,
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France.