Business owners ‘foolish’ if they are not preparing for Brexit

Any company which has not appointed an employee to understand the complexities of Brexit was “being very foolish”, Simon Coveney has said.

There was still hope of getting the Brexit deal between Britain and the EU passed in Westminster on December 11th, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs said.

“[British prime minister] Theresa May has been underestimated at every step of the Brexit process,” he said.

“Our role has to be to assure people and particularly unionists in Northern Ireland that this solution does not undermine the United Kingdom as a whole in any way,” he said.

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He was speaking in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, where he was hosting a Getting Ireland Brexit Ready workshop attended by about 400 business leaders and company owners.

Businesses had “their heads in the sand” if they were not asking questions about Brexit, Mr Coveney said. He said businesses needed to watch closely so they can “anticipate changes” to which they may need to adapt and see how how the State, which has set aside hundreds of millions of euro to assist business with the transition, can help.

Brexit roadshow

Donegal was not originally listed as part of the Brexit roadshow plans aimed at explaining the challenges of life in Ireland after Britain pulls out of the EU. However, the Tánaiste was approached by Minister for Education and local TD Joe McHugh about the importance of holding such an event in the county.

Mr Coveney said there was no part of Ireland more reliant on relationships between Northern Ireland and Ireland than Donegal.

He told the audience the Government had worked hard to ensure there was no return to a hard border.“We haven’t spent that time with a view to simply saying ‘well if the current deal that is on the table doesn’t work then we will simply have to accept that Border infrastructure will simply have to re-emerge.’

“We won’t accept that but what I can tell you is that the deal that is currently agreed and is on the table solves this problem, comprehensively taking on board all the different political concerns and commercial concerns and challenges.

“In many ways this famous backstop solution that is there now in an agreed text is a fallback position, an insurance mechanism essentially if all else fails.

“But it really does give Northern Ireland special treatment, the best of both worlds in many ways where trade for a business in Northern Ireland will be uninhibited, trading through the EU into Ireland or trading into the rest of the United Kingdom,” he said.