Brexit | Opportunities and challenges ahead for Ireland, consul says

Peter Ryan (right)

Economic opportunities and unprecedented challenges face Ireland in the near future as the United Kingdom continues down the path of its separation from the world’s largest single market, the European Union.

This was the prediction made by the Consul General of Ireland to Hong Kong and Macau, Peter Ryan, at a talk held yesterday evening at the Rui Cunha Foundation.

At the heart of his prediction is the contentious issue of the 500-kilometer border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the latter a part of the United Kingdom.

The nature of this atypical border is dictated by the terms of a Common Travel Area agreement between the two countries, signed in 1923. However, Britain’s withdrawal from the EU has raised questions over how the border, implemented six decades before the bloc’s Schengen Agreement, will be managed if London abandons the principle of the free movement of labor.

“Today, we have open, passport-free [movement] between Ireland and Britain, and this [policy] is going to be very interesting heading in to Brexit,” said Ryan during the talk. “We are absolutely determined that we can’t go back to what we term a ‘hard border’ – we can’t go back to [having] checkpoints.”

The issue is one of four highlighted by the Irish government as key concerns in the coming years, together with a need to minimize the impact on trade and the Irish economy, protect the Northern Ireland Peace Process and influence the future of the EU.

With concerns to the economy, Brexit may present a significant opportunity in its potential to siphon foreign investment away from the U.K. and toward the Emerald Isle.

Speaking to the Times ahead of yesterday’s talk, Ryan highlighted Ireland’s strengths in attracting foreign investment, namely its membership of the European Union, comparative low rates of corporate taxation and the young and highly-educated workforce, native in the English language.

Asked how Ireland can compete against Portugal in attracting foreign investment from Macau, Ryan pointed to his country’s reputation for housing some of the largest investment projects in Europe. In any case, he said, “we see European [Union] member states complementing each other, rather than competing with each other.”

The consul general also said that, despite the inherent difficulties, the Irish government is “delighted with the situation that Ireland now finds itself in; having a border with Britain that will become the frontier of the European Union.”

The contemporary  relationship between Ireland and Britain is linked to the interwoven history of the two peoples, which has been fraught with conflict and tension for hundreds of years. However, the 21st century has seen the bilateral exchange reach new heights, with Ryan claiming that the London-Dublin route has become the second busiest travel connection in the world.

“Irish people know all about different parts of British life and culture,” said Ryan, attributing this to the prevalence of British media in Ireland. “British people will be less familiar with Ireland – and that’s natural between a small neighbor and a big neighbor.”

The disparity between the number of people in Ireland (5 million) and Britain (65 million) is comparable to the ratio between the respective populations of Macau (650,000) and Hong Kong (7 million).

The talk yesterday, hosted by the Rui Cunha Foundation, with the support of the European Union Academic Program in Macau and the Macau Portuguese and English Press Association, was well attended by the public.