Panic woman waking up late in morning turning off alarm clock. Young girl laying in bed.

IRELAND'S love-hate relationship with clocks jumping forward and backwards an hour each year will now end in 2021 under a new EU policy.

Ireland South MEP Deirdre Clune has confirmed that Ireland must now choose between winter or summer time with Brussels having ruled that clock changes across the EU should cease from 2021.

It is now up to individual member states to decide which time, winter or summer, they will adhere to throughout the year.

The decision was taken by the European Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee - with the European Parliament having already voted to accept a similar proposed from the European Commission.

Under the decision, each member state must now decide by April 2020 whether they want to remain on summertime.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan confirmed last year that a special consultation process over summer time or winter time is underway.

The process of clocks shifting forwards and backwards an hour will, however, cease in 2021.

Read More

Last year, an EU Commission-sponsored online consultation found that 80pc of people wanted the seasonal clock change abolished.

“This is an issue that affects everybody," Ms Clune said.

"I have been working with various parties for many years to push forward these changes. I welcome this move by the committee and we need to now push forward at member state level with plans."

“At European level Irish people took part in a public consultation and Ireland voted overwhelmingly to stop the clock changes. There are many benefits to ending the process of changing the clocks each year such as improved outcomes for road safety and economic benefits. In addition brighter evenings in winter would have a positive benefit for public health."

The Cork politician said the majority across Europe wanted better standardisation in light of greater integration of European economies and travel systems.

“Summertime arrangements in the EU require that the clocks are changed twice per year in order to cater for the changing patterns of daylight and to take advantage of the available daylight in a given period,” she said.

Online Editors