The UK's exit from the EU

In the last few weeks, since the triggering of Article 50 and the start of the two-year countdown to the UK's exit from the EU, I have been reflecting on this latest phase in the UK's topsy-turvy engagement with the EU, a topic that has been a major preoccupation of mine during my four-year assignment in London. My main feeling, I have to say, is one of sadness and regret at what has happened.

Watching the fateful steps being taken a few weeks back, I could not help recalling the many times I have personally encountered British officials at EU meetings over a period of almost 40 years, and the very good relations I have invariably had with them. For every single day of my diplomatic career, our two neighbouring countries have been fellow members of the European Union and that shared experience has been very beneficial to the ties between us, which are now perhaps better than they have ever been. Our shared membership of that unique European club has served to soften some of the hitherto harder edges of our bilateral relations.

Two generations of Irish and British officials, stretching back to the early 1970s have become acquainted with each other on the shared ground of the European Union and have thus built up productive networks of partnership and mutual trust. On any given day in Brussels, there will, after all, be up to 30 separate meetings taking place at various levels within the EU’s structures. At these meetings, Irish and British delegates will often find themselves tic-tacking in advance, supporting each other during meetings and perhaps comparing notes afterwards over a coffee. This increased interaction between Irish and British officials, and the understandings thus fostered, have been beneficial by-products of our EU membership. That is not to say that the UK is Ireland’s only EU ally – certainly not – but there is a special affinity between us which we will miss when the time comes for the UK to leave.

At EU meetings, Irish Ministers and their UK counterparts have routinely encountered each other and in many cases developed a good personal rapport. At head of government level, successive Irish Taoisigh and British Prime Ministers have met several times each year at European Councils. During the years of conflict in Northern Ireland, the good relations developed at the highest political level were hugely important. These helped pave the way for the intensive cooperation required to deliver the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

It is regrettable that future generations of Irish diplomats will not have the experience of partnering with their UK counterparts around the EU negotiating table, and nor will our Ministers and heads of government have such regular contact on EU business. It will take much bilateral effort to compensate for these losses.

I also have concerns about the future of the mutually-beneficial economic partnership that has evolved across the Irish Sea in recent decades. Before we joined the EU, our economic interaction was were skewed and unbalanced. Today, there are very significant two-way flows of trade, investment and tourism between us. Total trade across the Irish Sea now amounts to more than £1 billion each week and this sustains large numbers of jobs in both countries. At present, there is an unhelpful air of uncertainty about future trading regimes.

I accept, of course, that a decision has been made by a referendum. As an independent country, the UK is fully entitled to leave the EU. Ireland and our remaining EU partners must seek to make the best of this new situation, however regrettable it might seem to us.

Our Government has made it absolutely clear that Ireland will remain a member of the European Union. It has identified a number of priorities for the coming EU-UK negotiations:

to preserve our trading relationship with the UK and the jobs that depend on it;
to protect the benefits of the Northern Ireland peace process and the open border in Ireland;
to maintain the common travel area with Britain and the special status of the Irish community here;
to create a positive future for the EU and for Ireland as an EU member state.

It is, in my view, unfortunate that the UK is set to unravel itself from more than 40 years of economic and political interaction with its fellow European nations, which has created such a positive legacy of peace and prosperity. We hope that this will ultimately work out well for the UK and the EU, but there is no doubt that this will demand some skilled negotiating and a will to seek compromise solutions if we are to reconcile our respective sets of interests and aspirations.

While the UK’s exit from the EU clearly raises difficulties for Ireland, we also have many strengths to call on. Those factors that have contributed to our robust recovery from the adversities of the past decade - the strength and diversity of our economy which no longer relies unduly on a single sector, our cost competitiveness, our location within the EU single market, our attractiveness to foreign direct investment and the performance of our export companies – all augur well for Ireland’s economic prospects and will equip us to withstand whatever the future may bring our way.

The UK’s departure from the EU marks a new and uncertain chapter in Irish-UK relations. The Irish and British Governments are both firmly committed to preserving our close relations, building on the enormous progress we have made in recent decades. We owe it to those who have worked to transcend the awkward legacies of our past history to strive for a continued productive bilateral relationship after the UK leaves the European Union.

Daniel Mulhall is Ireland’s Ambassador in London