Minister Paschal Donohoe. RollingNews.ie photo
By Irish Echo Staff
The overarching challenge for Ireland today is Brexit.
So said Ireland’s Ireland’s Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, who is concluding a four day visit to the U.S. that included engagements in Washington, D.C. and New York.
In an address to the Brookings Institute in the nation’s capital, Mr. Donohoe told his audience that Britain’s exit from the European Union would be a defining moment.
Said Mr. Donohoe: “While Ireland’s trade with Britain has dropped from over fifty percent in 1973 to seventeen percent today, it is still our single largest trade partner.
“Estimates vary somewhat but over 110 million border crossings took place between Ireland and the UK in 2016.
“Irish people cross the border for vacations, for university, for work, and even for marriage. So we share not just trade but language, history and culture.
“We also share the hard won peace process in Northern Ireland.
“Brexit negotiations between the EU and the UK are ongoing but I can confirm that Ireland’s priorities remain unchanged. We must protect the peace process.
“We must ensure that there is no introduction of a hard border. We must maintain the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK.
“And we must ensure there are effective transitional arrangements leading to the closest possible trading relationship between the UK and the EU.”
Minister Donohoe said the Irish government was optimistic that these challenges could be met but was under no illusions about the complexity and difficulty that must be overcome.
“There are lessons to be learnt from Brexit for all of us,” continued Mr. Donohoe.
“It represents a choice by a substantial portion of the electorate in a fully developed member of the global community to turn away from an interconnected Europe.
“A choice to try and turn back the clock on some of their closest international relationships.
“There has been significant analysis since Brexit that suggests that the vote was in part a reaction to increased globalization.
“I’m sure many of you here have read similar analysis that points to the rise in populism being driven in part by a backlash against a perceived economic injustice arising from globalization and global trade.
“This is not just an issue in Britain. Nor is it confined to the English speaking world.
“The lesson I think that we must take from Brexit is that it is not enough to assume that we need to communicate better the benefits of trade and globalization.
“The lesson is that it is not enough to believe that globalization has lifted hundreds of millions out poverty around the world, laid the basis for our economic prosperity and created a safer world.
“The lesson is that we need to tell people about how globalization and an interconnected world has changed their lives for the better. As a small open economy Ireland is a good example of what globalization means.
“To take our relationship with the United States as an example, every year our trade is worth over $100 billion.
“Taking goods and services together, we sell almost as much to the U.S. as America does to Ireland.
“There are about one hundred and fifty thousand people in Ireland employed by U.S. companies and about a hundred thousand jobs in the U.S. economy, across every state, employed through Irish companies.
“When you factor in the rest of the EU you are looking at two of the most developed markets in the world, over eight hundred million people looking to buy goods and services from each other. I believe that our trade relationship will only grow stronger.
“And while trade talks are currently on hold I very much hope that a transatlantic trade arrangement will be agreed in the future.
“This will be particularly exciting for Ireland because I believe we are uniquely positioned to act as a bridge between these two huge economies.”
During his visit, Minister Donohoe met with members of the Trump administration as well as political figures on Capitol Hill to discuss a wide range of issues including Ireland’s bilateral economic relationship with the U.S., EU–U.S. relations, and international tax issues.
