Ireland Just Made St. Patrick's Day 2022 A 4-Day Holiday & We Need This Everywhere
They definitely have the luck of the Irish on their side.
Ever wish you had more than one day to celebrate St. Patrick's Day — or to sleep off the effects of it?
Ireland just announced that it will be extending the festivities for a four-day-long weekend this year, as part of a big "thank you" to frontline workers and everyone else for enduring the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Irish government recently declared Friday, March 18, 2022 a "Day of Recognition and Remembrance," so many people will get the day off.
This statutory holiday is for Irish citizens to recognize frontline workers who continue to fight against COVID-19 and to grieve those who lost their lives to the pandemic.
Thursday, March 17 is St. Patrick's Day, which many Irish people already have off from work.
"We decided to make this decision now on a public holiday, rather than wait until the pandemic is over, because so many have already given so much," Leo Varadkar, Ireland's Tánaiste (deputy prime minister), said in a statement.
While this is good news for Ireland, other countries are still facing lockdowns and restrictions due to the Omicron variant.
In 2020, Ireland went into its first lockdown just days before St. Patrick's Day, and gathering restrictions prevented any of the typical festivities from happening.
Now, it looks like the future is a little brighter on the other side of the rainbow.
In addition to the long weekend, Ireland is giving frontline care workers €1,000 to recognize their efforts during the pandemic.
Just when we thought the luck of the Irish had run out, the country has also announced that they will also be adding a new holiday to mark St Brigid’s Day. on February 1, 2023. St. Brigid is one of Ireland's patron saints, along with St. Patrick and St. Columba.
"This will be the first Irish public holiday named after a woman. It marks the half-way point between the winter solstice and the equinox, the beginning of spring and the Celtic New Year," said Varadkar. "The creation of a tenth public holiday will bring Ireland more into line with the European average and it is one of five new workers’ rights that I am establishing this year."