Debate over moving clocks forward

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron’s proposal to move British clocks forward by an hour all year round and thus match up with the near continent have been given short shrift by the Irish Government and experts.

The perennial debate in Britain divides the state along north/south lines. The English home counties’ farming and tourism representatives favour any possible move to so-called “double summertime,” which would be two hours ahead of Greenwich meantime and was last used during the Second World War, but the people of Scotland strongly oppose such a move which would result in children travelling to school in darkness, with sunrise not occurring in most areas until 10am.

With the economic and cultural ties between Britain and Ireland, and the possibility that the North would be part of any switch to British double summer time, the Republic would likely have little option but follow suit if a change did occur.

The Department of Justice, which monitors Irish time-keeping, stated that Minister Dermot Ahern had not had “discussions with the British government regarding proposals to change their time zone to Central European Time”.

The department did take submissions on the issue to the European Commission from a number of relevant departments and semi-state bodies in July 2007 to comply with an EU directive – these are generally believed to have supported the status quo but accepted that any move by the British government would likely result in Ireland making a similar switch.

Some English tourism groups have claimed that to synchronise clocks with the continent would increase visitor numbers.

However, Fáilte Ireland’s head of communications, Alex Connolly, said his organisation had never come across it as an issue.

“The things that sell Ireland as a destination to Europeans is the landscape, culture and the friendliness of Irish people. People do not come here for the sun and the difference in time to the continent has never been raised as an issue for us.”

A farming source was also of the opinion that an extra hour of sunlight would make little difference.

“In wintertime, with the advances in technology, people are milking cows in modern milking sheds which are fully lighted. It may have been an issue in the past but is no longer the issue it might have been.”

The British parliament is due to debate the issue this autumn but it’s likely to gain little support, or chance of becoming a reality, while Britain continues to exist as a single state.

This position was made clear by the Scottish Nationalist Party MP for the Western Isles, Angus MacNeil, whose constituency would be among one of the areas worst hit by the proposal.

Mr MacNeil said: “David Cameron needs to wake up to the impact these proposals would have on people in Scotland.

“Plunging Dundee into darkness to boost tourism in Torquay is simply not acceptable...

“There are alternatives which would balance the interests of all who share these islands – including setting Daylight Savings Time closer to midwinter or encouraging people down south to get up earlier to enjoy the morning sunshine.”

This opposition would seem to scupper any real chance of the change being implemented, with Mr Cameron stating that he will not make any move without the agreement of Scottish interests.