Regulations were published last week in Ireland which designate 18 March 2022 as a public holiday. It is stated to be in recognition of the efforts of Ireland’s frontline workers during Covid-19 and in remembrance of people who lost their lives in the pandemic. This is a once off new public holiday which will fall on the 18th March 2022 directly after 17th March, 2022 which is already a public holiday in Ireland to mark St Patrick's Day.

The new Regulations also designate the first Monday in every February from 2023 onwards to be a public holiday, except where the first day of February happens to fall on a Friday, in which case that day will be a public holiday. The February public holiday is stated to mark the half-way point between the winter solstice and the equinox, the beginning of spring, the Celtic New Year and to mark the Christian celebration of St Brigid's Day. The first such public holiday will be Monday 6th February 2023.