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Noonan says Irish exporters can “ride out” a no deal Brexit

The former Minister for Finance has said he believes Ireland’s exporters can “ride out” a h...
Michael Staines
Michael Staines

21.36 19 Mar 2019


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Noonan says Irish exporters ca...

Noonan says Irish exporters can “ride out” a no deal Brexit

Michael Staines
Michael Staines

21.36 19 Mar 2019


Share this article


The former Minister for Finance has said he believes Ireland’s exporters can “ride out” a hard Brexit.

Michael Noonan said the fact that Irish exports to the UK increased after the pound was devalued by the Brexit vote illustrates the resilience of the sector.

He warned however that the food sector would be worst hit if the UK crashed out without a deal.

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“When the referendum took place, the pound sterling was trading at around 72p,” he said.

“It was 86p this morning, and it went to 90p two weeks ago. That’s a devaluation of over 30%, and Irish exports went up to the UK.”

“A devaluation of sterling is almost the equivalent of a tariff of the same magnitude, and yet the Irish exporting people – and that is an awful lot of people – have succeeded in holding their position and increasing their position in the English market.

“So we are resilient, we are able to cope.”

He said a no deal scenario would certainly be a setback but added “it won’t be catastrophic.”

Brexit

This afternoon, chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier warned that the EU will need to hear a “concrete plan” from the UK in order to agree to any extension of the Brexit process.

Warning that it is “for the British Government and Parliament to decide very quickly what the UK wants to do next,” he said all sides should “finalise all preparations for a No-Deal scenario.”

Deputy Noonan was speaking in Limerick where he was cutting the ribbon on new €17.6m office development in the city.

He said the uncertainty “generated by the British Parliament” over Brexit was “bad for business, bad for investment, and bad for trade.”

He said the political infighting in the UK had put the country's Prime Minister Theresa May in a “difficult position” throughout the negotiations – and said the EU would not buckle at the last minute.

“I’ll tell you this much, the EU wont cave in anyway,” he said. “I know those people very well; I worked with them for years. There will be no cave in.”

A spokesperson for Mrs May said this afternoon that she will write to the European Commission President Donald Tusk to formally request an extension of the Brexit process before the summit of EU leaders on Thursday.

With reporting from David Raleigh in Limerick


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