Queen’s funeral: SuperValu says policy is the same in republican Dungiven as it is anywhere else – staff that want to work, can

The Musgrave Group – which is behind the brands SuperValu and Centra – told the News Letter that these shops will be shut to customers between 10.30am and 1.30pm, but that some staff will keep working inside throughout the three hours when they are closed to shoppers.

But there is a caveat: all of this only applies to shops which are owned outright by Musgrave – and many are privately owned franchises, and these have the discretion to do whatever they want.

What is more, there is nothing obvious to distinguish one from the other – meaning many shoppers won’t know which SuperValus and Centras will be open unless they try to visit one during the funeral.

There had been a number of news reports in recent days about the fact that workers at the SuperValu in Dungiven, a republican-dominated village in Co Londonderry, did not want to close for the funeral.

However, the Musgrave Group has told the News Letter that the same policy, as set out above, applies to all the shops it owns.

In a statement, Musgrave said: “[Our shops] will remain operational and staff who wish to continue to work on Monday can do so. This is the case for all Musgrave NI company owned stores.

“Across the business in NI, Musgrave Group has accommodated, where possible, staff requests to take leave on Monday.

“However to keep the essential food supply chain moving across our network, we will operate on a skeleton staff basis which will require some colleagues working.

“All colleagues affected have been given a day’s leave in lieu.”

The state funeral of the Queen begins at 11am on Monday but, at time of writing, there is no defined end point.

Here is how other brands are planning to do things (these closures are known to apply to customers; some shops could continue keeping staff working in the background):

• Tesco will close all large stores, but express stores will open from 5pm-10pm;

• Sainsbury’s (and Argos),

• Lidl, M&S, and Iceland will be closed;

• Asda will shut, but will reopen at 5pm, as will Co-Ops;

• All Spar shops, Vivos, and Eurospars will be shut between 10am to 2pm only.

• VIDEO: British Empire legacy – African Church of Ireland clergyman calls on anti-colonial critics of the Queen to think again