Britain’s exit from EU could take a decade

Britain could take up to 10 years to strike final divorce terms with the EU, according to a leading economist.

Philip O’Sullivan, chief economist at Investec Ireland, said working out all the details of the UK’s new relationship with the EU as it plots to quit the bloc will take years.

Speaking in a personal capacity, Mr O’Sullivan told the Irish Examiner that ‘tiny’ Greenland took several years to strike divorce terms with Brussels in the 1980s, and negotiating the UK’s departure would take much longer.