Rejected petition Abolish the Sunday Trade Act 1997 to enable NI shops to open earlier on Sundays

I wish for the government to review the archaic rules set in 1997 forbidding shops and supermarkets from opening until 1pm on a Sunday. This is detrimental to our high street, damaging GDP and making the city / towns like a ghost town. Companies should have to choice of opening sooner

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It kills commerce in the cities. People cannot spend money on their weekend as shops don’t open until 1pm. This ruins people’s weekend who need to shop on a Sunday for the week ahead and cannot plan anything on that day because they have to plan it around the shopping. There are enough people to work now without offending religious church goers. It’s an archaic law which is no longer fit for purpose. This is killing our high streets and making Northern Ireland a less attractive place to live

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

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You may wish to sign this petition which calls for a similar action: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/709029

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 11 May 2025
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