Today might be my favorite day of the year. Better than my birthday. Better than Christmas. Because today in Ireland is the first day of Summer Time! (That’s Daylight Saving Time for my friends in the US and Canada.) Weeks after the clocks jumped forward in the States, they finally jumped forward here last night and now the sun will not set before 7pm in Ireland until sometime in October!
Summer Time is a big deal here. The long light-filled evenings are called the “grand stretch” and it is glorious. In the height of summer it won’t be completely dark until well after 10pm and the difference it makes in people’s moods is palpable. We do not have great weather here in Ireland and the winters, while not as frigidly cold as what I grew up with, are so wet and so dark they can really feel oppressive. From today, it’s like a weight has been lifted.
There has been EU legislation passed that was going to stop the time change. It was supposed to stop in 2021 but something else (gee, what could that have been?!) had our attention during that time so it was put off. And there doesn’t seem to be any plan to implement the legislation any time soon. I wouldn’t mind and I don’t think Ireland would mind as long as Summer Time is what became permanent. If we stayed in Winter Time and it got dark an hour earlier in the summer there would be sobbing in the streets here. We love our grand stretch – please don’t take it away from us!
And so starting tonight, I’ll need a sleep mask so I don’t wake up with the rising sun. I’ll be able to go for a nice long walk after work to close out my day. A glass of wine at 9pm on my balcony will become the norm. I’ll be able to walk home after dinner in town rather than hopping in a taxi or the luas.
In Ireland it may not be warm and it may not be dry but it will be light!
Happy Summer Time everyone!
The New Dubliner 