Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The impact would be disastrous from the point of view of the European Union, the UK and world trade. We always say we want to exercise maximum influence in the area of trade. We export 90% of what we produce. We export almost everything produced in the agricultural sector, and the IT sector has huge exports. Access to the single market would be questionable, unless we start going down the road of individual arrangements and agreements, and we know about this from before. It is a long time since I first studied the concept of a united Europe, and in so far as we have one it has shown one big advantage. We have had 50 years of comparative peace on the Continent of Europe as a result of the coming together of major powers alongside smaller powers in mutual recognition of each other's position and with the concept of helping each other.