Northern Ireland’s Sunday trading law made one compromise about shop size and another about Sunday morning. If the restriction is now defended as securing a common morning of rest for shop workers, the difference needs to be explained. Even a Christmas Day trading ban, which drew very strong support in the same 2011 consultation, was never brought forward, and Northern Ireland still lacks the equivalent of the Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004. Before deciding whether Sunday trading should change, Northern Ireland should be clear about what the present law is designed to achieve. Sources: Shops (Sunday Trading &c.) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997, SI 1997/2779 (N.I.