Australia’s focus here post-Brexit

AUSTRALIA has said it will be increasingly focusing on its relationship with Ireland once the UK leaves the EU.

Speaking at the launch of the Irish arm of a Sydney-based banking services firm in Dublin, Australia’s ambassador to Ireland, Richard Andrews, said Britain may no longer be Australia’s ‘default’ country to do business with after March 29.

Mr Andrews told a gathering at the new Dublin offices of Ignition that his embassy’s main ‘big economic priority’ with Brexit looming is to negotiate a free trade agreement between Europe and Australia – and Ireland would be at the centre of that.

The envoy said: ‘Ireland is English speaking, it has a legal system based on ours, it has trust and common vision.’

He revealed that 10% of the current Australian population are ‘of Irish heritage’, according to latest census figures.