Martin to help f ishing industry handle Brexit

Taoiseach tries to deal with fallout from sectors hit by EU-UK deal

TAOISEACH Micheál Martin has met with the fishing industry chiefs who are bracing for the negative impact arising from Brexit.

It comes as the Cabinet yesterday ratified the postBrexit trade deal and approved €100million in supports for the agri-food sector.

Mr Martin – along with Foreign Minister Simon Coveney and Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue – held talks with industry representatives for the first time since the Brexit deal was struck.

Mr Martin ‘acknowledged the severe impact that the outcome of the Brexit negotiations’ will have on the fishing industry in Ireland.

Representatives from the industry told the Taoiseach that they were disappointed with the outcome of the Brexit talks.

Mr Martin said the Government was ‘fully committed to engaging with the representative bodies and working with and for the sector and coastal communities in the coming period’.

He confirmed that all possible avenues to support the sector would be examined, and a comprehensive plan would be developed in consultation with the representative bodies.

Speaking on his way into the Cabinet meeting yesterday, Mr

‘This is a much softer Brexit’

Martin said: ‘ We have avoided what would have been a very significant negative hit to the economy if we had a no-deal Brexit.’

But he added there would be some challenges arising out of Brexit. ‘Today’s Cabinet meeting is providing an additional €100million towards the agri-food processing industry to facilitate its continuing access to the marketplace, particularly in the context of nontariff trade barriers that may arise as a result of Brexit,’ he said.

Meanwhile, speaking on RTÉ Radio, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that the Brexit deal would result in the Irish economy growing by around 2% to 3% less over the next decade. However, he insisted it would not cause a recession.

He said: ‘Just think how different it could have been.

‘Four-and-a-half years ago, when the UK voted to leave the European Union, we worried about a hard border between north and south. We were concerned that our businesses – our farmers, our agri-food sector – could face tariffs on trade with Britain.

‘This is a much softer Brexit than the one we feared four-anda-half years ago.’

The Tánaiste said the Government would also seek to draw down part of the €5billion EU Brexit adjustment reserve fund to help the Irish fisheries sector, which will face job losses as a result of the deal.

Ambassadors from the 27 EU member states unanimously gave the green light to the EU-UK postBrexit trade deal in Brussels yesterday. The agreement is now on course to become l aw on January 1, 2021, the day the UK formally leaves the EU.

A five-and-a-half-year transition period will apply to fisheries. After that time, there will be annual negotiations to determine the level and conditions for EU access to British waters.

Fisheries had been a key stumbling block to progress in the Brexit talks.

In the UK, speaking in the aftermath of the deal last week, the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations said their industry had been sacrificed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

It said the UK’s share of Celtic Sea haddock will increase to 20% from 10%, leaving 80% in the hands of EU fleets for a further five years. ‘In the endgame, the prime minister made the call and caved in on fish, despite the rhetoric and assurances,’ the group said.

Meanwhile, most of Northern Ireland’s 18 MPs are not expected to back the Brexit trade deal. The DUP said its eight MPs would vote against the agreement between the UK and the EU in the House of Commons when it is recalled tomorrow.

An SDLP spokesman confirmed that its two MPs would also vote against t he deal, while t he Alliance Party’s sole MP, Stephen Farry, said he would not vote for the deal.

The region’s remaining seven seats are held by Sinn Féin representatives who have historically never taken their places in the House of Commons. In a statement, the DUP said its MPs would be voting against the deal ‘as a point of principle’, and ‘not because we supported a no-deal option’.

DUP leader Arlene Foster said: ‘Whilst recognising this agreement brings about tariff and quota-free trade between the UK and the EU and thus reducing the impact on the GB to NI trade flows, we still have many negative issues arising from the [Northern Ireland] pro

‘We will vote against agreement’

tocol. On that basis, we will vote against this agreement. We will continue to work to mitigate the worst excesses of the separate Northern Ireland arrangements whilst exploring new opportunities for Northern Ireland.’

She added: ‘These arrangements flowing from the protocol are, of course, temporary, in that the Northern Ireland Assembly will have the opportunity to revisit the protocol and vote upon it in four years’ time.’