Arcadia Ireland
To leave or not to leave, that is the Brexit.
Date
July 5, 2016
The question I am asked most often these days is what does the Brexit mean for Ireland. Will the Leave vote mean more businesses locating to Dublin? Will Britain still want Irish potatoes? Will Game of Thrones continue filming in Northern Ireland? No one knows the answers to these questions at this time, however one thing for certain is that everyone assumes that the UK will leave the EU. Personally I do no think this will ever happen.
The recent referendum result, while surprising, is not binding. We are already witnessing regrets and calls for a do over. So perhaps the newly elected UK Parliament in October will be voted in with a popular mandate to remain within the EU, thereby making a Brexit improbable. This would be a way for the UK to remain in the EU. I think this will happen.
But what would a Brexit mean for the Republic of Ireland? Unification with Northern Ireland, the six counties partitioned in the 1920s, could be a possible outcome. The people of Northern Ireland stoutly rejected Brexit. Sinn Fein has already started to make political hay by putting up posters around Dublin calling for unification between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in the wake of this referendum.
We’ll see what happens come October, but whatever happens Ireland will be affected.