merrion street

Summer time will commence at 1am on Sunday morning when clocks go forward one hour
Submission to be brought to Government on EU proposals to end practice of changing clocks

The Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD, would like to remind the general public that “summer time” will commence at 1.00 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time this Sunday, 31 March 2019.  Clocks and watches should be put forward one hour at that time.

Summer time will end at 1.00 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Sunday 27 October 2019.

Minister Flanagan took the opportunity to provide an update on Ireland’s response to the EU proposal to end the practice of changing clocks. The original EU proposal published in September 2018 referenced final changes in April 2019. However, a compromise proposal, which was published in October 2018, deferred implementation to April 2021. 

The Minister said:

Discussions with Member States on the EU proposal are still ongoing via the Transport Telecommunications and Energy (TTE) Council. Ireland is one of a large number of Member States which has said that more time is needed to consider the proposal in order that Member States can allow for co-ordination with neighbouring countries. It is important to acknowledge that if the UK were to adopt a different position, this would present particular challenges for the island of Ireland. Any position adopted by Ireland will be informed by this important consideration.

The Department of Justice and Equality ran a public consultation process on the future of the twice-yearly clock change in October and November 2018. The consultation comprised a public survey (which received over 16,000 responses) and general submissions from individuals and stakeholders (receiving 171 responses). In addition, the Department commissioned an Amárach Research opinion poll of a sample of 1,000 respondents aligned with the national population.

A report on the consultation exercise is being prepared and will be considered by an interdepartmental steering group for submission to Government. Once the group has reported to Government, more details concerning the consultation process and its outcome will be published on the Department of Justice and Equality’s website.

Note for Editors:

Summer time is governed in Ireland by the Standard Time Act 1968, which was amended by the Standard Time (Amendment) Act 1971 to provide for Winter time. SI 506/2001 is the most recent amendment to this legislation, standardising the time of the clock change at 1am GMT in line with EU Directive 2000/84/EC.