UK IN THE EU: To stay or to go?

Britain’s economy will suffer hugely if it exits the EU after a referendum scheduled for 2017. Alternatively, it will not suffer at all, in fact, an exit is the necessary precondition for British economic renewal.

These opposing views will shape a debate that has enormous implications for Ireland.

Former Labour home secretary Charles Clarke and Tory backbencher Douglas Carswell slugged it out on the merits of Britain either staying in or leaving the EU over the next few years at the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) in Dublin yesterday.