A leading Dublin gold broker has seen a surge in demand from customers in Northern Ireland as fears grow over the potential for a no deal Brexit.

Merrion Vaults said the number of Northern Irish clients looking to invest in gold has risen by over 70% in the past year amid concerns over the potential for a Sterling collapse after the UK leaves the EU in March.

The firm said people in the North are seeking to transfer savings into precious metals – traditionally seen as a safer bet in uncertain economic times.

Co-founder Seamus Fahy said Northern Irish clients are spending an average of £5,000-£15,000 (€5,550 - €16,660) per purchase.

"It's seen as a hedge,” he said.

"Customers are worried about a significant devaluation of sterling versus the euro, and versus the US dollar.

"They've got the money in a bank account, and they're worried about it devaluing significantly, so a perfect hedge is buying gold bullion."

Bullion

The company is now aiming to open a vault in Belfast in the first quarter of next year.

Meanwhile, precious metals dealer GoldCore is set to open an "institutional-grade" vault in Dublin in the hope of capitalising on Brexit.

The company said it believes Dublin has the potential to become an important player in the gold bullion industry as investors seek to diversify the storage of precious metals ahead of a potentially turbulent 2019.

Brexit

Meanwhile, the leader of the Labour Party has warned that the Government will have very little time to pass emergency legislation if a deal cannot be secured in time.

It is believed as many as 45 pieces of law will need to be passed if the UK leaves without an agreement.

Brendan Howlin said TDs must have time to properly scrutinise the new laws before voting on them.

“When the Dáil comes back we will have 29 sitting days between the time we come back and Brexit day,” he said.

“That is a very short timeline to give proper scrutiny to that volume of legislation and statutory instruments.”

He warned that the preparations are not as far along as the deadline looms.

“I think fundamentally the Government never believed that there could be a no deal Brexit and I fear that we will discover lots of holes in our preparedness and that would be shocking.”

The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29th.