February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The Rev. Ian Paisley’s DUP had blocked the introduction of Sunday racing when it controlled the North’s Department of Social Development in the now suspended Executive. But after the Executive was suspended in 2002, British officials pushed ahead with the relaxation in the gambling laws.
The first race meeting at Downpatrick, Co. Down, attracted more than 3,000 fans and about 50 protesting members of Paisley’s fundamentalist Free Presbyterian Church.
The protesters were jeered by some people attending the races.
“It is sad to see this further desecration of God’s Day,” said the Rev. Gordon Dane, minister of the Free Presbyterian Church in nearby Crossgar.
“It’s about the 10 Commandments. The Bible says remember the seventh day to keep it holy,” he said. “You can’t pick and choose between commandments, you have to take them as a whole.”
Many years ago, some local authorities used to chain swings to prevent children using playgrounds on a Sunday.
But the strict Protestant influence on Sunday restrictions to public life in the North is now almost completely gone.
Heavy restrictions on pub opening hours have been relaxed in the last 15 years, and Sunday store opening was introduced within the last decade.
Downpatrick race course manager Iain Duff said he hopes racing will soon be a regular feature of Sunday life. “We plan to run three Sunday fixtures at the course next year,” he said.
For the record, What Perk won the history-making first race.