BREXIT REPORT HIGHLIGHTS BORDER CONCERNS
CURRENCY, competitiveness and customs are just some of the concerns of businesses along the frontline according to a new report published last week and compiled by the Brexit Border Blog.
The Frontline Project is a collection of testimonies collected from businesses along the southern border. It was compiled by the Brexit Border Blog on behalf of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce and Chambers Ireland.
In January and February this year, 35 on-the-record interviews were conducted with business leaders from the retail, hospitality, engineering, transport, agri-food, construction and ecological sectors along with those involved in local chambers of commerce and local enterprise offices. They will be serialised over the coming months on the Brexit Border Blog at www.brexitborder.com.
The main challenges to business highlighted by those interviewed were currency volatility, loss of competitiveness, potential introduction of customs and tariffs, access to markets post-Brexit, cross-border freedom of movement, uncertainty and a general lack of clear and reliable information.
Contributions featured in the report come from businesses right around the border area, including Paddy Malone from Dundalk Chamber of Commerce and Thomas McEvoy from the Louth Local Enterprise Office.
Director General of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce John McGrane said: ‘ The Frontline Project is an important piece of work that highlights the challenges being faced by businesses that now find themselves at the coalface as a result of Brexit.
‘ The open border has been hugely important for the development of business in this region with 30,000 people commuting across the 300 mile border every day for work.
‘Latest figures show that £5.1 billion worth of goods were traded across the border in 2016. Business along the border stand to lose most should restrictions to trade and the movement of people come into force as a result of Brexit. The importance of maintaining an open border is crucial if this trade is to continue to grow as the stories gathered for this project clearly demonstrate’.
Fearghal McKinney from Brexit Border Blog said: ‘We were delighted to have played a role in helping to identify the information gap around the implications of Brexit. The next step is being able to identify mechanisms that will help fill that gap for those on the frontline’.