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"Very disadvantageous results" for dairy cows were predicted when Ireland changed timezones in 1916.
The welfare of dairy cows was at the center of discussions about the change of time zone in Ireland more than 100 years ago, when the country was aligned with the Greenwich Mean Time. This decision was seen by many as an attempt by Britain to strengthen its ties. between the two nations after the 1916 Easter uprising.
This weekend, the clocks will retreat to an hour in Ireland at the end of the summer time (a week before the United States) for the last time perhaps. The European Commission has recommended EU Member States to end the early hour in 2019, an initiative that has been criticized by British commentators but widely accepted in a recent survey. at the European level.
The few surveys conducted in Ireland reveal an indifferent acceptance of the proposed change in 2016, but the situation was quite different in October 1916, when "Dublin Mean Time" or "Irish Mean Time" was replaced by the British "Greenwich Mean Time" ".
Read more: The Republic of Ireland may soon be in a time zone different from that of Northern Ireland
It is hard to imagine that Ireland has already had its own time zone, according to astrological information collected at the Dunsink observatory, just outside Dublin, but for 36 years, the Irish clocks have officially delayed by 25 minutes their British counterparts. On October 1, 1916, however, the British clocks were reinstated for an hour while Westminster ordered the Irish to reset their 35 minutes only to align with the rest of the United Kingdom.
The change was not well accepted. Countess Constance Markiewicz wrote to a Republican lawyer in England, claiming that the Irish people were furious that English time was imposed on them. She said that change, in addition to many other things that the English had done since the Getting up earlier this year would encourage the Irish people to support Sinn Féin.
It was not just the countess who was annoyed by the change. The County Council of Cork decided to formally take a stand against this decision and voted in favor of a motion that Ireland should have "its natural time". Councilor JD O'Connor said that cows that had already been milked at 3:00 pm would now be milked at 3:30 pm "with very disadvantageous results". His colleague, J O. Mahony, said that no one in the county would pay attention to the new time. "
Read more: A flock of Irish cows will swim off the coast of Donegal, as you (VIDEO)
In a letter to the Irish Independent a few months before the change, a member of the public claimed that the whole issue was an "identity issue" and that he hoped that the Irish people would oppose it. decision.
"I hope that the Irish people will vigorously oppose the proposal to replace Greenwich by the Irish time. Suggestion that there is something that resembles a general demand for change is, in my opinion, the exact opposite of the truth. The question is whether we should abandon this mark of our national identity to meet the needs of shipping companies and a few travelers, "he wrote.
In 2012, TD (Member of the Irish Parliament) Tommy Broughan introduced a bill to remove Daylight Saving Time and align Ireland with Continental Europe (ECT), which would Would have left an hour before Britain. The bill was not passed, but the European Commission's plan would see a similar change affected if the Dáil applied it next year.
Spain used to operate on GMT time until dictator Francisco Franco, who enjoyed Nazi support, aligned the country with Germany in 1940. At By the end of World War II, the time zone was not changed and Spain still has one hour ahead. English despite sharing the same line of longitude. The Canary Islands, a group of African islands under Spanish rule, still operate at GMT time.
Over the years, many other countries around the world have reduced their time zones and changed their time zones. The most notable is that of North Korea, which officially changed clock. 30 minutes in 2015. Although this decision was ridiculed on social media, at least seven other countries use half-hour benchmarks between time zones, including parts of Canada and Australia. Indeed, Nepal uses a quarter-hour mark and bases its time zone on the time at which the sun passes on a given mountain.
Other countries, such as China and India, are so vast that several time zones should be used, but the authorities impose a uniform time zone. Although it is not used in practice, it means that it is dark in the west of China, as the sun sets in the middle of the sky in Beijing.
With the Brexit approach and the strong anti-European sentiment in Britain, the changes suggested by the European Commission, coupled with a possible hard border in Ireland, could lead to the bizarre situation of Belfast and Dublin , separated by just 140 km in two different time zones.
In what time zone do you think Ireland should be? Let us know in the comments section below.
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