Brexit – UK Referendum Outcome

On 23 June 2016, the British people decided that the UK would leave the EU. The Government, while disappointed by this result, respected it and was fully prepared for the outcome. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade played a crucial role in implementing the Government’s contingency plan and shaping Ireland’s strategic response to Brexit.

A key dimension of this strategic response was a comprehensive and targeted diplomatic effort across Europe and with the UK, as well as active engagement with the parties in Northern Ireland, to ensure that the implications of Brexit for Ireland were fully understood. The aim of this effort was to ensure that Ireland’s concerns were acknowledged by our partners and our objectives and priorities for the forthcoming negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU were supported. These objectives and priorities were clear from the beginning:

• Full protection of the Good Friday Agreement and the gains of the peace process, including avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland; 
• Maintenance of the Common Travel Area; 
• Minimising the impact on Ireland’s trade and economy; 
• Securing Ireland’s place at the heart of a well-functioning EU.

On 24 June 2016, the Department’s plan swung immediately into action. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and his officials fanned out across Europe to explain the serious challenges for Ireland as a result of the UK’s Brexit decision. Ireland’s diplomatic missions across the world, and particularly in the EU and the UK, complemented these efforts through constant engagement with our partners on the ground as well as wider society across Europe and in the UK.

Building on a series of coordinated ministerial engagements with Irish communities in the UK in the run-up to the Referendum, engagement with the Irish community continued throughout the year. In addition, there were regular consultations with stakeholders at home, including through the Export Trade Council, to ensure their concerns were reflected in the Government’s position for the negotiations.

Within weeks of the referendum, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade had spoken to all his EU counterparts, as well as the British Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and also all the party leaders in Northern Ireland. These contacts continued throughout the rest of 2016 and included a crucial meeting in Dublin on 12 October with Michel Barnier, the recently appointed chief EU negotiator for the Brexit talks.

In total, from 24 June to the end of 2016, over 140 engagements took place at Ministerial and official level with EU partners, the UK and parties in Northern Ireland. All were aimed at securing support for Ireland’s Brexit priorities. This serious diplomatic effort was successful, leading ultimately to a strong acknowledgement of Ireland’s concerns and priorities in the EU’s and the UK’s negotiating positions and support from our EU partners in agreeing to make Ireland and Northern Ireland a priority issue in the EU-UK negotiations.