We are focused on the best deal for farmers and

nothing else, these papers are an important first step in assisting the UK in its own reflections on how a relationship between it and the EU might work post Brexit.

From an agri-food perspective, the UK is a critically important trading partner for Irish business; 39pc, or €4.8bn of Irish agri-food exports were exported to the UK in 2016. Exports to third countries have increased significantly in recent years, but the UK remains the biggest single export market for agri-food.

As a result of a referendum of its people, the UK has decided to leave the European Union. We therefore find ourselves in a position not of our choosing, which requires a negotiation to define a new relationship between the EU and the UK. The papers published in the last week provide some clarity on what the UK’s ‘asks’ are in the early stages of that negotiation.

Importantly, it is clear from the papers that the voice of UK industry is beginning to be heard in UK government circles. UK business people recognise that the EU is a critically important market for them and that a liberal trading arrangement is in their best interests.

These papers are both a response to, and a vehicle for further consultation with that critically important constituency. That is to be welcomed.

I hope that key players in the UK agri-food sector, with whom I have had detailed discussions, will take this opportunity to have their voices heard by the UK government.

I and my Department, along with the wider agrifood community, have invested a great deal of time and effort in the last number of months in engagement with UK and NI stakeholders across the agri-food sector to find areas of commonality and shared interest that might be valuable in the context of Brexit negotiations.

While new trade agreements with third countries are an inviting prospect for some in the agri-food sector in the UK, there is also a sense of realism around what the pursuit of such agreements might bring in terms of a potential dilution of standards and the competitive threats involved.

There is also the key question for UK policy of how such deals could be reconciled with access to the EU single market.

The recognition by the UK in these papers that there will be a need for an interim or transitional arrangement is also welcome from an Irish perspective. Avoiding a ‘cliff edge’ scenario is vital, but of course the shape of any such arrangement would have to be considered very carefully.

One of the issues concerning the agri-food sector is the complication of what new arrangements may be put in place for Irish companies using the UK as a landbridge to access the EU market for Irish product.

In this regard, the UK’s stated desire to remain part of the Common Transit Convention is to be welcomed, because it may facilitate the continued use of the UK as a land bridge for Irish product accessing the EU market. The UK also needs this facility because it uses the EU as a land bridge to third countries