Coveney: Prepare for no-deal Brexit

The Tánaiste has urged the country, and the business sector specifically, to gear up for a no-deal Brexit which he says has shifted from being a remote to a real possibility.

Simon Coveney was speaking in Cork at the launch of a fundraising charity cycle close to his heart.

And while he may be walking a diplomatic tightrope on Brexit, he showed off his ability on two wheels as he visited Marymount Hospice in Cork to launch details of the Carrigaline and District Lions Club annual cycling classic to West Cork on September 28 — a cycle he’s been involved with over the years.

After the photoshoot, he was back in the Brexit saddle, warning that a no-deal Brexit has shifted from being a remote possibility to a real possibility.

“I still personally don’t think it will happen but we can’t be sure,” he said.

Ireland really needs to focus now over the next 10 days on getting itself ready for a no-deal Brexit, just in case.

"There are many businesses who are not as prepared as they should be even though we have done a huge amount of outreach and spent an awful lot of money doing that.

"There are supports available, there is advice available, there are low-cost loans available, there is funding available, to actually take on specialist consultancy advice to help you prepare for Brexit.

“But companies should not ignore the realities here. They should, at the very minimum, be registering with Revenue to make sure that they understand what’s needed of them in the context of customs checks and also potentially the imposition of tariffs — their supply chains may be affected, their client base may be affected as well.”

He said while the Government has “very detailed contingency plans for virtually everything” at this stage, it doesn’t have a plan, in the absence of the backstop, to protect the EU single market while at the same time protecting the peace process.

“There is a twin responsibility that the Government needs to follow through on.

“We need to make sure that Ireland isn’t being taken out of the single market by Britain through this Brexit process, and so we do need to ensure that Ireland does what it needs to do with the EU and hopefully with the UK as well to protect the integrity of the EU single market and customs unions.

While Westminster continues to debate #Brexit in search of way forward - All businesses linked to UK in Ireland should be preparing for the potential impact of No-Deal. Don’t ignore this possibility - There’s a lot of help, funding & advice available, access it and be informed! https://t.co/wIS5XOU4En

— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) April 1, 2019

“But we also have to make sure that we don’t do anything that creates a security risk in the context of physical border infrastructure.

“Those two things are not easy to do. That is why the backstop is the obvious way to do this and has been agreed between the British government and EU institutions.

“But if that isn’t on offer — if the British government doesn’t follow through on the commitments that it’s made to solve the border issue through regulatory alignment — well, we have to look at other ways of doing that with the European Commission.

"That will be complicated but those conversations will need to happen.”

He insisted that it’s not too late to have those discussions.

“The Irish Government will do everything we can to protect the peace process on this island and the relationships north and south, and that involves avoiding physical border infrastructure,” he said.