Ireland: A post Brexit Destination?
So the reality we never expected is here, the UK voted to leave the European Union.
Ireland is connected with the UK in many different ways. They are our closest neighbour and largest trading partner. Brexit has brought about an air of uncertainty with businesses unsure of what is going to happen next.
Firstly, it is clear that the UK and Europe are both facing a period of economic and political change. In reality, the effect on Ireland of the Brexit referendum may not be as bad as first feared, according to a survey of foreign business travellers to Ireland.
Europcar surveyed 600 business travellers, asking a range of important questions about Ireland as a business destination and the effect of Brexit.
The findings reveal that only 7 pc of respondents felt that Brexit is going to have a negative impact on the Irish economy.
What is going to happen in Ireland after Brexit?
I would like to begin by reviewing the current situation in Ireland. The Irish economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. Through 2016, it is expected that Ireland will become the fastest growing EU economy. New preliminary figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that GDP increased by 7.8%, the fastest pace of growth since 2000.
Foreign Business Travellers view on the Irish Economy after Brexit
Europcar asked survey participants how they felt about the current state of the Irish economy. According to the stats, almost 82 pc think that the country’s economy is at least performing reasonably well.
Top Business Sectors Traveling to Ireland
58 pc of business visitors to Ireland are either SMEs or privately owned companies with greater than 250 employees. 16 pc of business travellers worked for a PLC while 8 pc were employed by the Government.
Top five industries that take business trips to Ireland.
Over 18 pc participants in our survey work for companies in Computer services and Technologies. The second highest sector, over 15 pc of respondents, work in Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare.
Will Multinational Companies Move to Ireland from Britain?
51 pc of Europcar Customers strongly believe that after Brexit multinational companies will consider Ireland to be a more desirable place than the UK.
Central Bank of Ireland Governor Philip Lane said that banks had begun exploring the possibility of moving activities to Dublin following UK’s vote to leave the European Union.
“Ireland is seen as one of the favoured destinations for financial firms based in Britain that want to retain so-called ‘passporting’ rights which allow them to do business with the EU. Many banking functions are jointly supervised by the European Central Bank and the local regulator. If a new business comes along we will be able to staff up to deal with it.”
Although the UK is still a while from officially leaving the European Union, start-ups and companies now need to factor this into their future plans. There is a long way to go before Britain officially exits the EU.
Ireland can offer certainty of access to the single market. This is a huge advantage of basing your company in Ireland and the fact that Ireland will be the only native English speaking country in the EU.
Overall, one of the benefits of Brexit is that previously foreign investment earmarked for the UK may now come to Ireland. This could take the form of financial services companies relocating to Ireland. However, it could also see more investment in Irish commercial property originally intended for the UK.
Even when the United Kingdom exits the European Union, there could be a negative affect but what is the point of putting the cart before the horse. We all know that Ireland will be grand :)
