In the Brexit negotiations

the EU Commission needs to re-set the impact analysis of combined Mercosur, TTIP and CETA trade deals on EU beef farmers to take account of the new reality.

Ireland must ensure that our interests are centre stage in any EU/UK negotiations. Nor can we allow the talks to be dictated by German or French interests.

Worse still would be the temptation to succumb to wishful thinking that Brexit will never happen. The rapid appointment of Theresa May suggests that the Tories are getting their act together and will present a unified front. They cannot afford to leave an open goal for UKIP so notions that the UK parliament can ignore the referendum or the government can tell the British electorate that they must vote again seem misguided to me.

Irish MEPs will have to work to ensure our interests stay centre stage in the European parliament but in reality the decisive interventions will have to be made at Council level by the Taoiseach and relevant ministers.

One thing that we should consider is the way in which Ireland could help with mediation in negotiations. When talks hit an impasse, could there be a role for the likes of John Bruton or Bertie Ahern to act as a go between?

Bruton, as a former EU ambassador to Washington, and Ahern, with his experience of dealing with the British in the Peace Process, could carry weight as honest brokers and at the same time keep Irish interests to the fore.

Clearly, the Taoiseach and government ministers are the principal voices for Ireland’s interests, but they have a country to run and can only be involved at key intervals. These talks are going to be exhaustive and are likely to take more than the two years envisaged under Article 50.

In the meantime, farmers need to take a strong line in resisting meat factory scaremongering.

It would be foolish to suggest that Brexit is not an immense challenge with potentially unforeseen outcomes; it is alarmist and reckless to suggest that it is a disaster for Ireland and that our exports are going to take a fatal hit.

Nonetheless, we need to plan for a future where our exports are diversified significantly beyond our nearest neighbour, Brexit or not.

As Franklin D Roosevelt said: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself ”.

Eddie Punch is the general secretary with the ICSA