Sir, – Regarding Dr Muiris Houston’s “Medical Matters” column (March 25th) I think the heading’s suggestion that “summer time can be fraught with danger” gives a misleading impression, for though the actual time changes at the end of March and in October have been shown to be associated with an increase in accidents, summer time itself is surely of benefit to society as a whole.
Many, I know, greet the arrival of summer time with relief and dread the early advent of darkness in autumn. Personally, like Muiris, I would love to see the reintroduction of double summer time, remembering it nostalgically from my youth.
Failing that why not change to be on a par with Spain and other EU countries. I know Senator Feargal Quinn and others would favour this.
Surely our longer daylight hours would benefit the economy, tourism, energy conservation, the elderly like me, those suffering from SADS and those needing exercise and outdoor activities for medical and social reasons.
Yours, etc,
HENDY JOYCE,
Dublin Road,
Arklow
Sir, – As usual at this time of the year, when the clocks change from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) to British Summer Time (BST), there is a clamour to scrap the change and move permanently to BST. If we have BST all year long then in midwinter it will remain dark until about 9.15am. Some of your readers will recall a three-year experiment in the late 1960s when the clocks did not change to GMT. The idea was abandoned due to a sharp rise in the deaths of schoolchildren on the roads in the early morning. Yours, etc,
TIM BRACKEN,
Blarney St,
Cork