NI Social 5 October 2026

Header image: illustrative, not a photograph.

If you need paracetamol, ibuprofen or a cold and flu remedy after midnight in east Belfast, Holywood or Bangor, there is one shop to head for: the Eurospar at 101 Ladas Drive, the only shop in east Belfast listed by its operator as open 24 hours. Holywood and Bangor have nothing open after midnight. No pharmacy anywhere in Northern Ireland is open later than 9pm.

We checked every Spar, Eurospar, Maxol, BP, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Lidl in the three areas against the operators’ own store pages on 3 October 2026, along with the official list of every pharmacy in Northern Ireland. Opening hours change, so ring before a long drive.

The short answer

  • East Belfast: Eurospar Ladas Drive, 101 Ladas Drive, Belfast BT6 9FH, open 24 hours every day. Phone 028 9079 3140.
  • Holywood: nothing open after midnight. The last shop to close is the Spar at Torgrange, 41 Bangor Road, at midnight. From Holywood, Ladas Drive is about 14 minutes by car.
  • Bangor: nothing open after midnight. Five Spar and Eurospar shops stay open until midnight (listed below). From Bangor, Ladas Drive is about 22 minutes by car.
  • The next all-night shops: Eurospar Brackenvale, 520 Saintfield Road, Belfast BT8 8EU (028 9081 5006), on the southern edge of the city, and the Spar at 70 to 74 Malone Road in south Belfast (028 9038 1504).
  • If it is more than a headache: phone GP Out of Hours (numbers below), go to the Emergency Department at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald, which is open all night, or call 999.

Before you drive: door or window?

Both all-night Eurospars have petrol forecourts. Their store pages say “24 Hours” for every day of the week, but neither says whether the shop floor stays open through the night or whether you are served through a window, as many forecourts do in the small hours. BP’s own data lists both sites as open 24 hours but does not mark the shop itself as open all night. Neither page says what medicines are on the shelf either. If you need something specific, a quick call before you set off saves a wasted trip.

Do not rely on BP’s online map for the Holywood and Bangor forecourts. Overnight on 5 October it showed the Torgrange site in Holywood as open 24 hours and the Rathgael Road site in Bangor as open, but Spar’s own pages say both shops close at midnight.

Open until midnight

These shops close at midnight and open again at 6am, every day, according to their own store pages. Do not mistake them for all-night shops: several websites wrongly list some of them as open 24 hours.

Area Shop Address Closes
East Belfast Eurospar Ballyhackamore 276 Upper Newtownards Road, BT4 3EU Midnight
East Belfast Eurospar Holywood Road 220 to 230 Holywood Road, BT4 1PD Midnight
East Belfast Spar Shandon Park 211 Knock Road, BT5 6QE Midnight
East Belfast Spar Ravenhill Road 318 Ravenhill Road, BT6 8GL Midnight
East Belfast Spar Rosepark 719 Upper Newtownards Road, BT4 3NU Midnight
Dundonald Eurospar Cherryhill 756 Upper Newtownards Road, BT16 1LA Midnight
Holywood Spar Torgrange 41 Bangor Road, BT18 0NE Midnight
Holywood Maxol Eurospar Kinnegar 69 Belfast Road, BT18 9ES 11pm
Bangor Eurospar Rathgael Road 102 Rathgael Road, BT19 1RS Midnight
Bangor Spar Belfast Road 139 Belfast Road, BT20 3PP Midnight
Bangor Spar Abbeyhill 71 to 79 Newtownards Road, BT20 4DW Midnight
Bangor Spar Maxol Ballyholme 2 Ballyholme Road, BT20 5JJ Midnight
Bangor Eurospar Gransha Road 80 to 81 Gransha Road, BT20 4TL Midnight
Bangor Spar Rathmore 10 Rathmore Road, BT19 1DL 11pm

There is a second Spar on the Ravenhill Road, at number 117, which closes at 10pm. The midnight shop is at number 318.

The big supermarkets close earlier: Tesco Knocknagoney and Tesco Springhill in Bangor at 11pm (Monday to Saturday), and the other Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Lidl stores in these areas at 10pm or earlier. On Sundays the large stores close at 6pm.

Some petrol stations sell fuel all night with no shop at all, so they are no help here: the Maxol Auto24 sites at Holywood Road (Belmont) and Bridge End, the Go station on Grand Parade, and Nicholl Auto 365 on the Donaghadee Road in Bangor are unstaffed and pay at pump only.

One to ask about: Tesco’s petrol station at Knocknagoney lists fuel as available through the night from Tuesday to Friday, but Tesco says those are fuel times, not kiosk opening times. We could not confirm whether the kiosk sells anything after midnight. It is about five minutes from Holywood, so if it does, it would be the nearest option; the petrol station’s number is 0345 266 6569.

What a shop can sell you

Shops that are not pharmacies can only sell medicines on the General Sale List, in the maker’s sealed packs. For painkillers that means:

  • Paracetamol, ibuprofen and aspirin tablets and capsules come in packs of up to 16. That limit is in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, which apply across the UK, including Northern Ireland.
  • Two packs at a time. Guidance from the MHRA, the medicines regulator, says shops should not sell more than two packs of painkillers in one go. It is guidance rather than law, but most shops follow it.
  • Bigger packs, of up to 32, are sold only in pharmacies, and those are shut overnight.
  • Age: no law sets a minimum age for buying paracetamol, but some retailers refuse to sell painkillers to anyone under 16 as their own policy, so younger buyers may be turned away.

What any particular shop stocks at night is up to the shop, and none of the store pages we checked lists its medicines.

Pharmacies: none open after 9pm

There is no 24-hour pharmacy in Northern Ireland. In the official list of every pharmacy in Northern Ireland (Business Services Organisation, September 2026), no pharmacy is open later than 9pm. The latest-opening pharmacies near these areas are:

  • MediCare Pharmacy, Forestside Shopping Centre, Saintfield Road, Belfast: Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm, Saturday 9am to 7pm, Sunday 1pm to 6pm. Phone 028 9049 1980.
  • Boots, Bloomfield Shopping Centre, Bangor: Boots gives pharmacy hours of Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm, Saturday 9am to 6pm and Sunday 1pm to 6pm. The official list shows shorter hours, so ring 028 9127 1030 before relying on a late visit.
  • Boots, 257 Woodstock Road, Belfast: Boots gives Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm and Saturday 9am to 5pm. The official list again shows shorter hours, so ring 028 9045 7611 first.
  • Boots, Ards Shopping Centre, Newtownards: Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm, Saturday 9am to 5.30pm, Sunday 1pm to 5.30pm. Phone 028 9181 1297.

Holywood’s pharmacies close at 5.30pm and are shut on Sundays. The Boots at Connswater has gone: the shopping centre closed in March 2025.

When it is more than a headache

  • GP Out of Hours is for urgent problems that cannot wait until your surgery opens. It runs from 6pm on weekdays until your surgery opens the next morning, and all day at weekends and on public holidays. It is not a walk-in service: phone first and a doctor or nurse will call you back.

– South and East Belfast: 028 9079 6220 – Ards and North Down, which covers Holywood and Bangor: 028 9182 2344 – If you are not sure which applies, your own GP surgery’s answerphone gives the right number when it is closed.

  • NHS 111 is not the route in Northern Ireland. You may see it on UK-wide websites, but here you use GP Out of Hours instead.
  • Emergency Department: the Ulster Hospital on the Upper Newtownards Road, Dundonald, is open 24 hours, every day. In Belfast the Royal Victoria and the Mater are also open all night. The Ulster’s Urgent Care Centre for minor injuries is open 8am to 6pm only, and the minor injury units at Bangor and Ards hospitals have closed for good.
  • Emergencies: phone 999.
  • Toothache: there is no overnight dental service. At weekends and on bank holidays the Emergency Dental Service on 028 2566 3510 takes calls from 8am to 12 noon, for swelling, injury or bleeding after an extraction.

If someone has taken more paracetamol than the packet says, get medical advice straight away: too much can damage the liver. At night that means GP Out of Hours by phone, or the Emergency Department. Do not drive yourself there: ask someone to drive you, or call 999 for an ambulance. Bring the packet or leaflet, any tablets left and any other medicines they take.

If you are struggling, Lifeline is free on 0808 808 8000, and Samaritans on 116 123, any time of the day or night.

How we checked

We checked opening hours on the operators’ own store pages (Spar NI, Maxol, BP, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Lidl) on 3 October 2026, and the pharmacy hours on Boots and MediCare’s own pages and the Business Services Organisation’s September 2026 list of every pharmacy in Northern Ireland. The rules come from the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 and the MHRA. The out-of-hours details come from nidirect and the Belfast and South Eastern Health and Social Care Trusts. Where two sources disagreed, we say so above.

Questions people ask

Is there a 24 hour shop in east Belfast?
Yes, one: the Eurospar Ladas Drive at 101 Ladas Drive, Belfast BT6 9FH, which Spar NI lists as open 24 hours every day (checked 3 October 2026). Every other Spar, Eurospar and forecourt shop in east Belfast closes at midnight or earlier. Phone 028 9079 3140.
Is the Spar on Ladas Drive open 24 hours?
Yes. It trades as the Eurospar Ladas Drive, at 101 Ladas Drive, BT6 9FH, and Spar NI's store page says 24 hours for every day of the week. The page does not say whether the shop floor or a night window is used in the small hours, so ring 028 9079 3140 if that matters.
Where can I buy paracetamol after midnight in Bangor?
Nowhere in Bangor: every shop there closes by midnight. The nearest shop open all night is the Eurospar at 101 Ladas Drive in east Belfast, about 22 minutes by car. Before midnight, five Bangor shops are open until 12: Eurospar Rathgael Road, Spar Belfast Road, Spar Abbeyhill, Spar Maxol Ballyholme and Eurospar Gransha Road.
Is anywhere open all night in Holywood?
No. The last shop to close in Holywood is the Spar at Torgrange, 41 Bangor Road, at midnight. The nearest shop open all night is the Eurospar at 101 Ladas Drive in east Belfast, about 14 minutes by car.
Is there a 24 hour pharmacy in Belfast or Northern Ireland?
No. In the official list of every pharmacy in Northern Ireland (September 2026), none is open later than 9pm. The latest near east Belfast is MediCare at Forestside, open until 9pm Monday to Friday.
How many paracetamol can you buy in a shop in Northern Ireland?
A shop that is not a pharmacy can sell ordinary paracetamol tablets and capsules only in packs of up to 16, under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. MHRA guidance also says shops should not sell more than two packs in one sale. Pharmacies can sell packs of up to 32.
Can under 16s buy paracetamol in Northern Ireland?
No law sets a minimum age, but some retailers refuse to sell painkillers to under 16s as their own policy, so a younger buyer may be turned away at the till.
Who do I call for medical help after midnight in Belfast, Holywood or Bangor?
For urgent problems that cannot wait, phone GP Out of Hours: 028 9079 6220 for South and East Belfast, or 028 9182 2344 for Ards and North Down, which covers Holywood and Bangor. It is not a walk-in service. The Ulster Hospital Emergency Department in Dundonald is open 24 hours. In an emergency, phone 999.
Is NHS 111 available in Northern Ireland?
No. NHS 111 is not the route for urgent care in Northern Ireland. Out of hours, phone your area's GP Out of Hours service instead, or go to an Emergency Department or call 999 in an emergency.
What should you do if someone has taken too much paracetamol?
Get medical advice straight away, because too much paracetamol can damage the liver. At night in Northern Ireland, phone GP Out of Hours or go to an Emergency Department. Do not drive yourself: ask someone to drive you or call 999 for an ambulance, and bring the packet, any tablets left and any other medicines they take.

Sources