Issue 192 - Belfast BT6 • BT7 • BT8
Views sought on City extending Sunday trading hours
Belfast City Council is asking for feedback from residents, visitors and business representatives on extending Sunday trading hours across the city during periods of high tourist and visitor numbers. Under the Shops (Sunday Trading &c.) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 - the NI-wide legislation which sets out the rules by which shops can open on Sundays – only areas which have designated themselves as ‘holiday resorts’ can give the green light for larger stores (those with floor space of more than 280 square metres) to open at any time on up to 18 Sundays between 1 March and 30 September each year (excluding Easter Sunday). Belfast is not designated as a ‘holiday resort’ at present – meaning large shops are only currently permitted to open from 1pm Berlin-born artist Ralf Sander and his daughter Naomi Sander were among those revealing details of a new memorial planned to commemorate the 85th Anniversary of the Belfast Blitz in Cathedral Gardens.
Striking designs revealed for Belfast Blitz War Memorial
Striking designs for the Belfast Blitz Memorial have been revealed by acclaimed Berlin-born artist Ralf Sander, and his daughter Naomi Sander, ahead of the 85th anniversary of the tragic events. The result of a partnership between Belfast City Council and The Northern Ireland War Memorial Museum (NIWM), the planned memorial will be located in Cathedral Gardens, the area between St Anne’s Cathedral and Ulster University’s Belfast
campus which is currently undergoing a £5 million transformation into a world-class public space. It is anticipated that the Memorial will be unveiled in spring 2027, when the revamped Cathedral Gardens open, featuring a large multi-use events space, a play area inspired
by nature and a kids’ interactive digital play zone. The memorial designs were created following a lengthy period of intensive research by artist duo Ralf Sander and his daughter Naomi Sander. Thanks to their creative vision, visitors to the memorial
will see themselves reflected in an historical image of the bombed-out Belfast International Bar, which once stood on the site of the planned artwork, powerfully connecting past and present.
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to 6pm on Sundays. Smaller stores (those less than 280 square metres) do not have to follow these restrictions and are already free to set their own opening hours. In July 2025, elected members agreed, in principle, to introduce the holiday resort designation across the full Belfast council area, subject to public consultation. The consultation is now open for feedback, with views welcome by Wednesday 13 May 2026, via the council’s Your Say Belfast engagement platform at yoursay. b e l f a s t c i t y. g o v. u k / sunday-openings