I doubt many, if any, of the big wigs in Brussels were thinking about the humble club GAA player when they voted this week to abolish our now custom twice-yearly clock change.
This issue has been high on the agenda for a few years now, with many arguing that Daylight Saving Time - which was brought in during World War I to conserve energy - is actually detrimental to both human and animal wellbeing.
Indeed, former GAA President turned Fine Gael MEP, Sean Kelly was one of the most vocal supporters of the abolishment of the clock change.
This week's vote will form the basis for member states' discussions around formalising a new law that will come into effect in the near future. However, should we abolish clock changes, the question then becomes, which time should we keep?
Contrary to what you may presume, DST is actually what we refer to as 'summer time', meaning we would no longer put the clocks forward every spring. So if we decided to simply scrap it, days would get darker an hour earlier during the height of summer.
Won't somebody please think of the GAA player!?
With the GAA fixture schedule being the way that it is, you'll often find club matches set for 8pm on a weeknight, including important club championship games. While this isn't a massive issue for anyone living locally it can be a very stressful experience for players who have to travel long distances, from the likes of Dublin. If DST is gotten rid of then it would mean matches would almost certainly need to be moved forward an hour.
That would be an absolute disaster. Obviously it could affect other sports as well but to be frank, I don't play them so I'm not as worried about that.
Although most rhetoric from Irish politicians to date seems to indicate that we will choose to stick with summer time, we here at the Balls.ie Three Man Weave GAA podcast are taking no chances, and that is why we took the bold step to launch our own online petition "Club GAA players against Winter Time."
We are inviting likeminded Gaels to sign our petition here and add their name to the list of those who are vigilantly ensuring the future of our association, for fear the Romanians and Luxembourgers don't give two hoots!
Brexit - Of course, fucking Brexit
One last thing on this issue: The Brits. Yes, here they are, making a right mess of everything again. Despite everything I just mentioned above, this whole thing could go completely tits up for Ireland because of Brexit.
With Britain leaving the EU they will not be under any obligation to abolish clock changes and the Torys have previously indicated that they will not be scrapping it. So this would of course mean one time zone for Northern Ireland one time zone for the south.
A complete clusterfuck for everyone.
What will poor Swanlinbar GAA club in Cavan do? Half of their pitch is in the south and half is in the north. Now they face the prospect of not only having to contend with a customs border on the halfway line (which will seriously slow down ball into the full fowards) but also with two separate time zones. The match will be over at one end of the field and only throwing in at the other.
Sign the petition. Scrap winter time!
