The UK's Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said: "There comes a time when the buffoonery needs to stop."

Ireland has the third-lowest business startup costs in the world — a distinction we share with Britain — but weaker internet services mean the UK substantially outranks us in a global index measuring opportunity and entrepreneurship.

It might sound like a contradiction, but austerity hasn’t ruined our prosperity, according to a global study.

Ireland has been named 14th in a list of the most prosperous countries in the world.