Q&A - In perspective: Consequences of Brexit for Ireland

The Brexit vote has created much unease on Irish shores. Ian Talbot, CEO of Chambers Ireland, puts it in perspective.

Ian, what can we expect to be the immediate effects of the Brexit vote?

The most significant immediate effect is currency volatility and trying to predict what will happen with sterling over the next few months. However, the world of business is well used to volatility. Right now, [11.45am yesterday morning] sterling is at 0.81 and it has been considerably worse than that in the recent past. In the early years of the eurozone, it traded typically between 0.65, and 0.70. Then in late 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, it went as low as 0.96. At that time, there were photos in the newspapers of people from the Republic stuck in traffic jams en route to shopping in Newry. But thanks to quantitative easing in the eurozone, the euro is also weaker and the difference with sterling is not half as bad now as it was in 2008 to 2009.