Sir, – I’d like to thank The Irish Times for reminding us all of the imminent “longer evenings” (“Summer time: Clocks go forward by one hour this weekend”, News, March 22nd).
I sincerely hope we continue this tradition. Few people realise it, but Planet Earth doesn’t rotate at a consistent speed. Far from it! Solar noon over Dublin occurred at 12.40 GMT in mid-February and will occur 32 minutes earlier at 12:08 GMT in late October.
Our use of “Irish Standard Time” (IST) from now until Halloween actually repositions our social clocks slightly closer to nature’s clock (albeit by a mere four minutes).
The current arrangement has served us well for 106 years. It ain’t broke. Let’s not fix it! – Yours, etc,
RONAN SCANLAN
Leopardstown,
Dublin 18.
Sir, – As far as I am concerned, the earlier the sunrise the better, and this change pushes back the sunrise by one hour, making it harder to get up. I think we should stay on natural time. – Yours, etc,
COLM O’CONNOR,
Dublin 14.