Brexit set to trigger shift in EU ‘centre of gravity’

The "centre of gravity" in the European Union will shift when the United Kingdom leaves, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donhoe has said.

Speaking at the Kennedy Summer School in New Ross, Co Wexford, Mr Donohoe said the UK's departure signalled that the "external foundations on which Ireland built over 40 years of economic and social modernisation" were shifting.

Generations of Irish politicians had embraced close regional and global cooperation, deepening Ireland's ties with Europe, the US and the UK. "But that environment – the external framework within which Ireland has to make itself secure and to prosper – is changing. Political scientists who spoke of globalisation, then of hyper-globalisation, now speak of an era of de-globalisation," he said.

“One theme is already very clear. We can’t assume that the future European Union is the current union minus the UK, with the only change consisting of British departure. What remains will change. The centre of gravity will shift.”

Fianna Fáil TD John McGuiness told the summer school the Brexit vote was driven by a sense that the EU had "gone too far in promoting its own bureaucracy" and forgotten it was there to serve the people. He accused the European Commission of "interference" in ordering Apple to pay €13 billion to Ireland and said the commission had been "reckless" in suggesting the money should go to Ireland when in fact other countries had a claim on it.

"I think they have gone too far. I am not against Europe, but I am against a bureaucracy that is out of control and unwilling to consider the plight of the Irish people or the citizens of the European Union, and that allows states such as France and Italy and Germany to dictate and bully the smaller states," he said.

Opportunities

Independent Senator Lynn Ruane said Brexit could offer Ireland opportunities to address the huge funding gap in third-level education. After Brexit, UK universities may no longer be eligible for some EU research funding. "We may tend to focus on the negative impact of Brexit for Ireland. This is one area where I think we can truly benefit and be successful following the UK's exit from the EU," she said.

As the only majority English-speaking state left in the EU, Ireland would also be well-placed to receive more students who would previously have gone to the UK. “There is a significant chance that both EU and non-EU students will flock to our universities based on this,” Ms Ruane said.

On the upcoming Budget, Mr Donohoe said that while there would be “inevitable tension” over coming weeks he was confident the Budget would be passed. “Minister [Michael] Noonan and I obviously have a huge amount of responsibility in relation to this. However, the responsibility does not end with us. It is now shared across both chambers,” he said.

Mr McGuinness claimed there was “a corruption at the centre of Irish politics”, pointing to a lack of scrutiny and accountability on the spending of taxpayers’ money. He said the law should be changed so as to allow the Comptroller and Auditor General to inspect local authorities’ spending. “One single line would change it, and yet it won’t be done,” he said.

In reply, Mr Donohoe said the idea that corruption was the heart of Irish politics “overshoots the runway completely”.