Recycling centres, Midoc and more - Christmas opening hours for Laois services

With Christmas finally upon us, many important public services in Laois will operate on different schedules over the coming days.

For anyone who needs to avail of out-of-hours urgent GP services over Christmas, Laois Midoc will continue to operate under its normal working hours. 

Laois Midoc Managing Director, Tom Garvey, confirmed with Leinster Express / Laois Live: "Our hours will remain the same as always but we will have more doctors working across all key dates that include Christmas Day, Stephen’s Day and New Year's Day, as well as weekends surrounding these days."

Laois County Council has also provided a detailed overview of when such key services such as recycling centres and libraries will be closed over Christmas.

Kyletalesha Landfill and Portlaoise Recycling Centre will open on Christmas Eve from 8am to 1.30pm. They will remain closed until Monday, 29 December and open from 8am to 3.30pm that day. These opening hours will remain the same through to New Year's Eve. They will close again on New Year's Day, after which normal hours will resume. 

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Portarlington Recycling Centre's hours will be slightly different. It will also open from 8am to 1.30pm on Christmas Eve and remain shut until Monday, 29 December when it will open from 8am to 3.30pm. However, it will close again on Tuesday, 30 December. It will be back open on New Year's Eve for normal hours until closing again on New Year's Day. From Friday, 2 January the schedule will be back to normal.

Áras an Chontae will close to the public from 4pm on Tuesday, 23 December until Monday, 29 December at 9am. The offices will close again for just one day on New Year's Day. 

The Planning Department will follow a similar arrangement, closing at 1pm on Tuesday, 23 December until Monday, 29 December at 9.30am. It will also close on New Year's Eve at 4pm, with usual hours resuming on Friday, 2 January. 

If you need to tax your car around this time of year, the Motor Tax and Payments Office will close from Tuesday, 23 December at 1pm and reopen on Monday, 29 December at 9.30am. The offices will close again on New Year's Eve at 12pm and reopen on Friday, 2 January from 9.30am until 1pm.

The libraries in Abbeyleix, Mountmellick, Mountrath and Portarlington will all close on Tuesday, 23 December at 3.30pm and reopen on Tuesday, 30 December. The libraries will close again on New Year's Eve at 3.30pm and reopen on Friday, 2 January. 

Portlaoise Library will also close on Tuesday, 23 December at 3.30pm but it will reopen slightly earlier on Monday, 29 December. It will also be closed from 3pm on New Year's Eve until Friday, 2 January.

Durrow, Rathdowney and Stradbally's libraries have already shut for Christmas. Durrow will reopen on Tuesday, 6 January as will Stradbally. Rathdowney will then reopen on Monday, 5 January.

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