GWYNEDD councillors will be asked to back a motion later this week, calling for St David's Day to be a national holiday.

Cyngor Gwynedd has consistently lobbied for the 1 March to be a bank holiday in Wales and in 2022, the local authority gave staff the day off.

On Thursday, Cllr Elwyn Edwards, who represents Llandderfel, will table a motion at full council asking fellow councillors to back his calls for St David's Day to be recognised as a national holiday.

The motion says: "Cyngor Gwynedd is calling on the Westminster Government to hand over the right to the Welsh Government in Cardiff to designate 1st March of each year as an official national holiday in Wales recognising St David as the Patron Saint of Wales.

"This is done in the case of the Saints of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The council also seeks the support of the Welsh Government for this (it has previously stated its support) as well as all County, Town and Community councils in Wales."

Cyngor Gwynedd has long campaigned for the 1 March to be made a national holiday and in 2023, the leader criticised the then-UK Government for its ‘insulting’ bank holiday response.

In 2023, Cyngor Gwynedd’s Plaid Cymru leader, Cllr Dyfrig Siencyn, said: “You may remember last year (2022) we gave our staff a bank holiday to celebrate our national patron saint day, Gŵyl Ddewi, as other nations do.

“Our action received considerable support from county councils across Wales, from the Welsh Government and even from the Welsh Tories.

“Like many other issues, Wales does not have the right to designate bank holidays and it seems that we are not responsible enough to do so. We must go, cap in hand, to ask permission from our masters in London.

“The response received from Westminster last year was insulting, claiming that it would be too complicated for people working across the border to cope with a Welsh bank holiday and that it would have huge cost implications.

“Westminster is able to grant two special bank holidays to crown the King of England without any consideration of cost. This is yet another example of the insulting and pretentious attitude of our Tory masters in London and the way in which they deal with the people of Wales – with complete lack of respect for our nation.”