TIME TO WORK TOGETHER
WE TALK TO SLIGO FARM AND BUSINESS LEADERS ABOUT IMPACT OF BREXIT
SLIGO is in a unique position to influence talks on Brexit with a seat on the board of a British and Irish city management group.
Sligo BID ( Business Improvement District) was chosen as the only town from the Republic to sit on the board of the Association of Towns and Cities Management ( ATCM).
As BID CEO, Gail McGibbon joined the board at their first meeting a day before the Westminister attack on March 22nd.
“I was selected as the Irish representative - Sligo is the only Irish town that has representation among the British cities such as London, Watford, Leeds and Norwich,” Gail told The Sligo Champion.
“We are saying that they need to look at Brexit from an Irish perspective as well. While everyone is speculating, we do need to stay patient and see what the EU and UK position is,” said Gail.
“It’s a very interesting and unique position Sligo is in. We intend to go after every opportunity for every type of engagement. It’s a question of everyone being supportive. This is the time for all to work together,” she added.
ATCM is a not- for- profit organisation of key stakeholders and thought leaders who develop and implement shared visions, strategies and action plans for town and city centres throughout the UK and Ireland.
Sligo IFA Chairman JP Cowley said local farmers are “very concerned” because Sligo is a main exporting county to the UK and Northern Ireland going back decades.
“It’s a big worry yes. 17% of our produce goes to the UK, 50% of that is beef. If we lose that market it would seriously affect the farming scene here,” he said.
The West Sligo farmer said 23% of our dairy goes into Britain as well. “There are 800,000 litres of milk a day going up North for processing through Aurivo. If there’s tariffs on borders it will be unreal,” he said.
He said the IFA was very concerned that the UK would do a new trade deal and start buying low- cost beef from countries like Brazil.
“If we have to go looking to get into the European market it will bring down the whole EU price - if we put that extra stock that is now sold in the UK into the European market it will bring down that price too,” he said.
He also said Sligo farmers “do not want to see borders again.”
Mr Cowley said the high quality of Irish agri- produce could be the farming industry’s saving grace in a post- Brexit Britain.
“All our beef is home- produced, on grass. The quality of our beef stands up and hopefully when the British people see that it will stand to us. Our quality will stand to us. The British consumers will realise the value of our product and how good it is,” he said.
Elsewhere IBEC is advising all member companies to examine how Brexit might impact their business and is providing contingency planning support.
Enterprise Ireland launched the ‘ Brexit SME Scorecard’, a new interactive online platform which can be used by all Irish companies to self- assess their exposure to Brexit. The Scorecard suggests actions and resources. The platform can be accessed at www. prepareforbrexit. ie
Chair of the Small Firms Association Sue O’Neill, said it was important senior managers were assigned responsibility for assessing the impact of Brexit.