As the clocks spring forward this weekend, the threat of an international time border remains looming over Fermanagh, with the full consequences of Brexit still playing out.
Back in 2019, after years of consultations and discussions, the European Parliament voted to end daylight savings time, and thus the spring and autumn clock changes.
The problem is, the previous British Government stated it had no intention of following the EU plan. This would mean that for six months of every year Belcoo could be in a different time zone to Blacklion, Belleek from Ballyshannon, and so on.
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.
The EU plan to stop changing the clocks was supposed to come into affect from spring 2021, however the Covid pandemic delayed its implementation, and it fell off the agenda.
However, shockingly, it is actually an Irish MEP who has been leading the campaign to revive the plan – Fine Gael’s Sean Kelly, who has branded the clock change “outdated.”
“There’s a huge amount of evidence suggesting that changing the clock biannually is bad for human health, bad for animals, bad for road traffic, and has very little beneficial attributes. And it’s also a huge inconvenience,” said Mr Kelly.
The Kerry politician doesn’t appear to be aware of the implications for his own country and what the plan he is pushing for will mean for the everyday lives of border communities, or even the peace process.
Mr Kelly now wants the EU to set a target date for when it will stop changing the clocks – if he gets his way, the time border could be coming to Fermanagh sooner rather than later.
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