Fallout from Brexit unknown until dust settles
NO doubt people living along the Louth border observed little difference in their way of like on Friday last when the dawn of a new post Brexit era finally arrived to herald a complete new relationship between the Republic of Ireland and the UK.
Listening to Boris Johnston and some of his Brexit Ministers the UK is on the brink of ‘an exciting new period if our history’ with one former Minister wishing that ‘ he was 20 again to avail of the exciting new opportunities that lie ahead’.
Only time will tell whether that prediction will come true.
It will also take time, perhaps a few years, to determine the impact the UK leaving the EU will have on life and business in Louth, for we now form a major part of the UK’s border with the EU.
If, as Mr. Johnson and his Ministers predict, the UK will become a new Singapore with its vibrant economy on the fringes of Europe, then there may be the opportunity for border counties in the Republic to piggyback on those ‘exciting times ahead’.
Certainly there would appear to be far greater opportunities for Northern Ireland than the rest of the UK given the special status the province is allowed in being able to trade freely with the rest of the UK and the EU.
This is a development that needs some consideration within government departments in the Republic and the IDA, for if, as UK Ministers predict, their economy is about to prosper, then the advantage the Louth and other border counties enjoy as neighbours should be exploited.
However, no one should hold their breath of any immediate advantages and indeed the prospect is that teething problems that will almost certainly arise in the immediate future concerning the movement of goods between jurisdiction will be the most pressing issue.