Taoiseach Enda Kenny will urge chancellor Angela Merkel today in Berlin to ensure that Ireland's concerns about the impact of the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union are heeded.
The Brexit referendum vote will loom large over the meeting, with the Taoiseach anxious to underline again Ireland's commitment to the EU while pressing for London to be given time to reorder its affairs before it files for divorce.
“We’re striking that balance,” one Irish official said of the current round of meetings with EU counterparts. “We’re saying: we have a strongly pro-EU culture here. We’re not them [the British], but we recognise pragmatically that you have to give them space to get their house in order.”
Breathing space
Dr Merkel agrees that breathing space is fair, but has made clear that time is of the essence.
“This decision has fallen and now the next step is that Britain – when they have a new prime minister – files an application under article 50 of the European Treaty,” she has said.
Now two of Europe’s longest-serving leaders, and veterans of countless EU crisis summits, Mr Kenny and Dr Merkel have employed every ounce of political wile to survive domestically in the last months.
But even they may soon part company. While Mr Kenny, after five years, faces pressure to quit soon, Dr Merkel enters the last year of her third term with a welcome bounce in opinion polls.
Ireland sees Germany, along with states such as Sweden and the Netherlands, as allies in pushing back against pressure from other member states for either renewed integration or a loosening of ties between EU states in response to the British referendum result.
“We hope for a broad consensus around the view that this is not the time for a leap forward or a step back,” said one Irish official.
While Dublin, in its discussions on Brexit with other EU states, is making clear its concerns about potential implications for the Common Travel Area, the Border and the peace process, the official described the current position as “preparing the ground” for more detailed talks once the British clarify their intentions.
“We need to know what their ask is,” the official said, referring to the British side. “Only they know what they’re going to do next.”
As part of discussions, Italian foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni will meet Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan in Dublin today while French president François Hollande is due to visit Ireland next week.
