WITH the clocks due to ‘spring’ forward this weekend, it’s worth remembering Fermanagh still has the threat of an international time border hanging over it, thanks to Brexit.
While the clock change is currently nothing more than a minor inconvenience for most, in years to come the bi-annual practice could become a very significant event locally as it could mean the difference between the county being an hour apart from its neighbours or not.
That’s because in 2019 the European Parliament voted to remove daylight savings time, meaning there would be no clock changes at all in the year in any EU member state.
The change was supposed to come into affect from spring 2021, however the Covid pandemic delayed its implementation, with no current indication of when it will be introduced.
With the UK no longer beholden to EU rules, it means if or when the change is enacted, those living in Belcoo could be in a different time zone for half the year than their neighbours across the bridge in Blacklion.
Another scenario is that the North is allowed to follow the EU in abolishing the clock change. However, if that ends up being the case, it will mean we will be an hour apart from Britain for half the year.
Either way, all that work and effort to resolve the tensions and fears over land and sea borders could end up all for nothing, with a very real border thrust upon us despite all the previous efforts.
The only way to resolve the issue is for either the EU to abandon it’s already-agreed plan, or for the whole of the UK to implement the same practice.
The British government has previously stated it would not be considering a similar change, and intended to keep the clock changes as they are.
A paper published by a House of Lords Select Committee from 2018 – when the EU first began discussing the possibility of the move – urged the Westminster government to reconsider this, noting it had not assessed the implication of the UK not aligning with the EU’s proposal, nor had it consulted the public on the matter.
“Given the importance of the potential impacts on Northern Ireland and on industries across the UK, we urge the government to do more now to ensure they have the full picture about the consequences of both keeping and abolishing our own clock changes so that the UK can act on evidence-based research when the EU makes its decision about how to manage clock changes in the future,” the report stated.
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