Sunday Racing To Be Introduced In The North Northern Ireland is finally to be allowed to introduce Sunday racing after years of reluctance by local politicians. However, the current ban on Sunday betting in bookmakers' offices will remain in place. Sunday racing in the province has long been legal but, as betting on such racing was not, it has never been considered practical for either of the two racecourses, Down Royal or Downpatrick, to operate on a Sunday. However, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Des Browne said on Friday that he intends to relax the betting laws to allow on-course Sunday betting. He also said that legislation will be introduced to protect the rights of betting industry employees who do not want to work on Sundays. His announcement was welcomed by Down Royal chairman Jim Nicholson who has long been campaigning for the present restrictions to be lifted as they have been in mainland Britain since the mid 1990s. Nicholson said: 'It has been a long and tortuous path but we are finally there. 'It's a pity some of our ministers couldn't make their decisions a bit quicker but Des Browne, who has only been in the job for four or five months, is to be applauded. 'I would hope that the bill would go through pretty quickly if the Assembly is up and running in May. 'If not, I would assume that there will be an order in council in the English Parliament. I would love to see us racing on a Sunday by the end of the summer.'
