One can only have the utmost sympathy for EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier as he valiantly tries to nail the latest helpings of Brexit porridge to the hard wall of economic reality. One must have admiration too for his patient,…
A number of thoughts occur following the recent announcement by the Irish Government of a 300 million euro Brexit loan scheme for Irish business. The loans, backed by the European Investment Fund, are for future working capital requirements to fund…
The debate on the border has focused on how Northern Ireland might be kept in ‘the’ or at least ‘a’ customs union with the EU. This still leaves the question of how the agri-food industry north and south would have…
In a Radio Ulster look-back interview this morning former First Minister Peter Robinson admitted that on the basis of the economic case, he would have favoured the UK remaining in the EU. However, ‘we are where we are’ and he…
Compare the present Irish border with what is outlined in the the European Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee’s Smart Border 2.0 report and its clear that a future border arrangement, with or without a political agreement, will be anything but frictionless. Commissioned by…
The Brexit debate has focused largely on the threats to goods exports and particularly to agri-food if we end up trading with the UK on the basis of World Trade Organisation tariffs. But as noted in a recent article, we…
South of the border where there is a strong consensus that Brexit is a bad idea inflicted upon us, the debate is primarily economic. In the north and Britain the debate is more emotional and extremely ideological, and many participants…
Here is the text of the agreement between the EU and UK following the St Patrick’s weekend negotiations. On Ireland, the UK confirmed it would accept the “backstop” solution of aligning with EU regulations to prevent a hard border with the…
“I warned before the Brexit vote that it would damage scientific research in Britain, that a vote to leave would be a step backward, and the electorate, or at least a sufficiently significant proportion of it, took no more notice…
In the months after the referendum, there were constant stories in the British media about the EU falling apart as member countries took opposing sides on various aspects of Brexit. Even now, the Daily Express runs at least one headline…
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