Irish exporters hit as tweet drags sterling lower

Sterling dropped yesterday after an extraordinary series of events, including a tweet from the Sky Television economics editor, helped pile on uncertainty for exporters ahead of the UK’s ‘in-out’ referendum on the EU in 10 weeks’ time.

The 16% slump in sterling against the euro this year has hit Irish exporters hard, eroding a huge slice of their currency advantages that had helped drive jobs-rich exports by indigenous firms into Britain last year.

The UK currency’s weakness as the vote on June 23 looms into view has also put into question whether a new incoming government here will have the same huge bounty in corporate tax receipts that the coalition tapped in 2015.