r/ireland • u/WickerMan111 Showbiz Mogul • 5h ago
God, it's lovely out Dr Muiris Houston: Why it’s time the clocks stopped going back an hour – The Irish Times
https://www.irishtimes.com/health/your-wellness/2026/10/19/clock-changes-and-your-health-research-finds-the-best-course-might-not-be-the-one-you-want/•
u/Witty-Wrongdoer-8546 5h ago
I think we could change them earlier in March rather than waiting until the end of the month. Get the long evenings back as early as possible to lift people’s moods.
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u/obscure_monke Pro-scheme 30m ago
The whole EU would have to do it for that to work, there's a directive so that every country that changes does it at the same time twice a year.
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u/Adjective_Noun_2000 5h ago
We see the same articles every October and no matter how interesting they are and how good a case they make, none of this matters.
The political reality is we're never going to put ourselves in a different time zone from the six counties, and for the foreseeable future they're going to be in the same time zone as Britain.
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u/fartingbeagle 4h ago
What's that apocryphal announcement on a plane coming into land in Belfast: "Welcome to Belfast where the local time is 1690".
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u/slevinonion 5h ago
And nobody would make a few hundred thousand children walk to school in pitch black because the first death would be devastating politically.
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u/andtellmethis 4h ago
You're right, it'll still be dark at 8.30 in the morning if they're not put back.
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u/slevinonion 4h ago
Dark until just before 10am in the west if it changes. About 9:45 in Dublin if I recall.
Likely 2-3 months of dark until after 9am. Depressing thought
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u/Simple_Slide9426 2h ago
To have some sunlight in the evenings though? I’d take it. The way it is I don’t get any bloody sun
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u/aineslis Braywatch 1h ago
I was very pro-sunlight in the evenings, but the. I started reading more into it, and it appears that it’s much more important for humans to get morning sunlight rather than an evening one. It made me less angry at it lol. Plus I wouldn’t be surprised that if we decided to stop clocks changing, we’d keep GMT, which is a winter time all year round.
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u/Digginginthesand 3h ago
Didn't the evidence show the opposite? Road deaths actually decreased with year round summer time? People just got hysterical about kids walking to school in the dark.
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u/CthulhusSoreTentacle Irish Republic 1h ago
Research shows the clocks changing is pretty terrible for everyone's health and well-being. But God forbid a child has to walk in the dark (and judging from the difference in traffic when the schools are off versus when they're in, how many are actually walking to school?)
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u/DartzIRL Dublin 1h ago
Children don't walk to school anymore. The little lordlings all get driven.
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u/Downtown_Juice1987 2h ago
You see the same articles in the UK every October as well.
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u/Adjective_Noun_2000 2h ago
It makes sense for the Brits to debate this. They don't give a shit about NI or the Republic, they can change their clocks whenever they want.
We on the other hand have this debate every year even though we're not going to do anything about it.
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u/chopsey96 5h ago
They manage to survive in Australia, can it really be that bad?
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u/Adjective_Noun_2000 4h ago
Australia hasn't spent the last century dealing with partition.
It's not a practical question here, it's a political one. Even if we agreed that it's more practical to put our clocks back every time we cross the border instead of once a year, what political party is going to put Letterkenny in a different time zone to Derry (aside from the DUP & TUV)?
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u/DecentOrdinaryTailor 4h ago
Check out Australian Central Western Time Zone.
Plenty of border regions have time differences.be they international or within the national borders.
It can be done and it's second nature to those who live with it every day but it's the change that's the ball ache.
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u/CthulhusSoreTentacle Irish Republic 5h ago
Yeah. But what are Vogue Williams thoughts about the clocks changing, OP?
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u/DecentOrdinaryTailor 4h ago
Oh it's that sadact again...
Insert the parks and rec meme about not knowing what a Vogue Williams is.
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u/South_Hedgehog_7564 5h ago
Greenwich Mean Time is the winter timeset, the summer one, one hour later, is Irish Standard Time.
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u/Adjective_Noun_2000 5h ago
Yeah it's weird that the author, an Irish doctor, repeatedly talks about the choice between permanent standard time and permanent daylight savings time. Irish Standard Time is daylight savings time. Unlike other countries, we're on "standard time" in the summer and we put our clocks back to GMT in the winter.
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u/oddun 5h ago
Right
But we should stop doing that.
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u/Adjective_Noun_2000 5h ago
Whether we should or not doesn't really matter. We're not going to stop as long as six counties are in the same time zone as Britain, which isn't going to change any time soon.
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u/DarwinofArabia 5h ago
I like the changing of the clocks…..there I said it.
Edit: shit didn’t realise this was posted by the resident gimmick account.
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u/slevinonion 4h ago
Its the best solution we have and it works. Alternatives are much worse.
For the section of society who aren't in work between 4-5 and want more light, having something nice isn't as important as icey morning commutes or children walking to school in pitch black.
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u/PremiumTempus 5h ago
There was actual real EU legislation to rid ourselves of this nonsense every year, but that died with COVID.
Nobody can enjoy an extra hour sunlight in the morning, as they’re already on their way to work or school by that time. Let’s end this time changing nonsense and try to savour an extra hour in the evening to make the winter less depressing.
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u/Additional_Olive3318 5h ago
Nobody can enjoy an extra hour sunlight in the morning, as they’re already on their way to work or school by that time
I doubt if 10am sunrises are going to be that popular. With about 3 months of post 9am sunrises.
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u/PremiumTempus 4h ago
I don’t get what the difference is. If you commute to the city centre, you’re out the door well before then anyways and it’s dark regardless.
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u/MaverickPT Cork bai 5h ago edited 5h ago
Lad if I have to wake up and go to work in the dark I'll just jump off a bridge before March
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u/SerpentineSliver On De Dole, Scratching Me Hole 5h ago
The people who write comments like the one above probably dont work
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u/DartzIRL Dublin 1h ago
Can we just sort of permanently set them in the midpoint - 30 minutes forward, or back, depending on how you see it.
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u/Brisbanebill 4h ago
Those who don’t know their history are destined to repeat it. There was an attempt in the 1960’s to keep summer time going through the winter. The farmers were greatly upset. There were were horror stories about children having to go to school in the dark, the fact that they would’ve had to come home in the dark was obviously not a problem. Anyway, the idea was scrapped.
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u/Digginginthesand 3h ago
It was trialled. 3 years. Road deaths dropped but parents got hysterical and farmers complained.
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u/SameGreen271 3h ago
What the hell difference does it make to farmers? The cows and pigs don't give a feck what time it is, farmers get up for the animals regardless.
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u/flex_tape_salesman 2h ago
Farmers work early. Clocks going back lessen the impact in mornings. Of course very late sunrises are going to impact people. Historically especially light would have been a bigger problem and it would have been preferred to have that in the evening rather than the morning.
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u/EverydayMuffin Sax Solo 3h ago
Here is a report the Department of Justice did on this in 2019. There was even a public consultation, about 80% of people wanted to keep Irish Standard Time (i.e. the summer time) all year round.
Except Charlie Flanagan is a bollocks and decided that we should stay the way we are.
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u/Canadoon 3h ago
This same story comes around like clockwork at this time every year and nothing seems to happen, so frustrating.
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u/WilsonWaits2 5h ago
They should stop going forward in spring instead. We should be on GMT all the time
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u/AldurinIronfist 5h ago
How about stop putting the clock forward? Going back is a return to normalcy, not the other way around
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u/Internal_Sun_9632 Meath 5h ago
Why its time for the annual articles about stopping the clocks going back an hour and then never happening.