Most people will well know that Ireland for a couple of hundred years was part of the United Kingdom and starting with the formation of the Irish Free State nearly a hundred years ago, moved onwards towards to become a Republic [previously referred to as “Eire”] seventy years ago.

Because of those historic ties, the Irish people have continued to have enjoyed a very close relationship with the British to the extent that freedom to settle here has been common – that of course has become an endorsed right under the EU’s freedom of movement arrangement.

Ireland has achieved a top 10 slot in the wealthiest of nations league and certainly that is related to its trade links with Northern Ireland and mainland Britain.

However, now all that is going to change because of BREXIT, isn’t it? Yep, three years ago, the Union collectively voted in a Referendum to leave the EU and although it didn’t happen on schedule (29 March), it is a betting certainty that it will finally be enacted by 31 October this year – then the shit is going to hit the fan, and not least for the Irish, eh?

Britain failed abjectly to escape the suffocating clutches of the EU not only by having an incompetent Prime Minister, but because the unelected EU’s Fat Controllers would not genuinely fairly negotiate the EU’s departure and Ireland played a willing accomplice’s part in all of that stitch-up – a role that doubtless will come home to haunt them, don’t you think?

Currently the British public is incandescent with rage that the Country is still in the EU and that anger is predominately targeted towards the clueless Tory government, but also against indecisive Labour, which reneged on its commitment to respect the voter’s decision to Leave to cynically try to get into government.

However, the ‘anti-Britain’ role played by the Irish at the EU over the past 2½ years has been completely masked so far, but when it gets exposed later, the previous Anglo-Irish relationship will on this side of the Irish Sea switch from one of condescension to one of grudge, won’t it?

You see, Ireland’s economy is linked at the hip with its relationship with the UK and Britain leaving the EU was always going to cause dire problems for Dublin, whichever way the cookie crumbled, eh?

However, what their government SHOULD have done was get us a ‘good’ deal rather than side with our enemies in Brussels so that we ended-up with a rubbish deal offer that was soundly rejected. That simply means the UK will most likely leave this year with a totally disorderly ‘no deal’ outcome – which delivers ‘the worst possible scenario’ knock-on effect to the Irish economy, BOTH SHORT AND LONG TERM

Basically, a predicted disorderly ‘no deal’ for the UK, will present Ireland with grim economic prospects – a short-term drop in GDP and a dramatic long-term drop, together with increasing losses of jobs, major exports drop offs, and significant investment curtailment [that is according to Ireland’s official figures]

You see, Ireland’s economic exposure to Brexit has been a matter of major concern for it, as exports to the UK have been ‘growing’ and are increasingly more than to any other EU country, so we remain the Republic’s largest export market – with 34 per cent of its products heading here despite the BREXIT volatility and uncertainty

There now exists a loss of good will between Dublin and London and this is going to surface when the going gets tough next year for both countries as the BREXIT fallout kick-in.

This difficult situation will be of course be highjacked by those on either side of the Irish border intent on splitting the Union and our leaders will need to be on the ball to counter that and to continue to deliver Britain’s ongoing self-determination commitment to the people of Northern Ireland – those who must NEVER be abandoned.

Well, on the more general front, the financial soothsayers predict that the UK will be the country hardest hit by a ‘no deal BREXIT, both in relative as well as in absolute terms – like serious job losses, and a 4.4 % drop in the country’s GDP – but that it would also be a “short-term effect”.

EVEN IF TRUE THAT IS A PRICE WE MUST BE PREPARED TO PAY TO BE A FREE NATION, surely? However, we would not suffer alone as according for example to the adverse predictions of the job losses, we would take just 30% of the total compared to the EU’s 70%. Furthermore, in addition to Ireland being in the mire, amongst others, the in trouble already powerhouse Germany will hit the buffers with an instant slump in business [automobiles, pharmaceuticals, chemical and petroleum products], Belgium will be the worst hit with huge losses and dropping 2.35% of its GDP, while France’s significant job losses will fuel the yellow vest protests – and of course Italy is already a financial basket case within the EU

[Now whether any of those true facts will get the EU to back-down and give Johnson/Hunt a new deal, is anyone’s guess because the EU’s unaccountable ‘in charge’ people don’t give a damn about any individual county’s plight, do they?]