List of public services and private businesses shutting doors for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in Northern Ireland continues growing: here is the latest

The list of public and private amenities which are set to cease business for the state send-off of Her Majesty Elizabeth II has been growing steadily for several days.

As of tonight several new ones have been added.

l These include the Department of Finance’s General Register Office (handling births, deaths and marriages), and its Land and Property Service headquarters in Belfast.

l The unexpected bank holiday also means that the department’s planned release of data from the 2021 Census – a massive news story which only comes around once every decade – has been postponed from next Tuesday to next Thursday.

l In addition, Translink has announced that it will be operating a Saturday timetable for its trains and buses during the unexpected Monday bank holiday.

l Meanwhile in Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s territory, bin collections scheduled for Monday will now take place on Saturday from 7am, and all recycling centres will be shut.

Its leisure centres and community / arts centres will be closed, as will council offices, and the Marble Arch Caves.

l Derry City and Strabane District Council (an overwhelmingly nationalist-dominated one) said today that many services are still planning to operate.

Bin collections will happen as usual on Monday, and large council tips will open (namely Pennyburn, Strahans Road, Strathfoyle, Glendermott Road, Claudy and Eglinton).

Parks and cemeteries will open as normal too, and burials will continue as arranged.

Meanwhile its offices in Londonderry city and Strabane, along with the Guildhall, Tower Museum, Alley Theatre, and Foyle Aerna will shut.

However finding further details is tricky because the specific webpage about the planned closures – titled “Council confirms service arrangements for Monday’s Bank Holiday” – directs readers to the council’s homepage for more information... which in turn directs people back to that same bank holiday webpage.

l All schools in Northern Ireland have been granted an exceptional closure day, but the government says merely that “it is expected that schools should close” – not that it is compulsory, so if parents are unsure they should check directly with their school.

l Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University had already said they would close, as will NI’s colleges.

l In terms of private businesses, the following is a list known as of tonight:

Greggs shops will close;

McDonald’s will close, but some may re-open after 5pm;

The social media accounts of KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and Subway did not indicate any closures at time of writing;

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

Sainsbury’s (and Argos) will be closed;

Lidl will be closed;

M&S will be closed;

Iceland will be closed;

Asda will shut, but will reopen at 5pm;

Co-op will shut, re-opening at 5pm;

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

l WATCH: God Save the King sung for the first time in generations in Belfast’s Saint Anne’s Cathedral as Charles III attends memorial service for the late Queen Elizabeth II

l WATCH and LISTEN: Wave of cheers follows royal convoy through Belfast city centre as well-wishers hail King Charles III