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The 'fall backwards' in time serves an important practical purpose. It was originally devised as a way of maximising the best possible use of the daylight available to us during the winter.

We’re currently in Irish Standard Time (IST) or British Summer Time (BST) which means that when the clocks change, we will move into Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

This year the clocks will go back the day before Hallowe’en at 2am this Sunday, October 30. This will allow you an extra hour in bed.

Old Railway station clock with Guildhall in background pictured in 1998. (Hugh Gallagher)

It also gives us brighter mornings for a while and longer, darker evenings as winter sets in.

The clocks always go backat 2am on the last Sunday in October.

Although the date differs each year, there is a simple way to remember whether clocks go forward or back in spring or autumn, by using the old mnemonic, ‘spring forward, fall back’.

Date and time when the clocks go back: October 2022