Ireland ‘can weather a Brexit storm’

The shock to the Irish economy if the UK were to vote next month to exit the EU would be “manageable”, Moody’s Investors Service said in a sparkling weekend report on the economy here.

Moody’s is the first authoritative international voice to play down the potential effects on the Irish economy were the UK to opt to leave the EU on June 23.

It is part of Moody’s most upbeat assessment on the Irish economy since the devastating banking crash.

Moody’s restored its credit rating for Ireland to an ‘A3’ and maintained a “positive” outlook on the State’s diminishing debt pile, even as it weighed a key risk of Brexit to the Irish economy.

Many Irish exports to Britain include agricultural and processed foods which underpin small and medium-sized firms and provide lots of jobs.

In weighing the risk of the UK leaving, Moody’s nonetheless suggests the outlook for the economy is sufficiently rosy for Ireland to weather any Brexit storm.