Dr. Anthony Coughlan:

There is no significant advantage. Leaving the eurozone would be painful but staying in the eurozone would also be painful. It is very hard to discern any advantages to remaining. There is likely to be no net income from the EU. If Ireland left, there would be the advantage of getting back control over fishing rights. If the UK alone leaves the EU, Ireland will be more divided because there will be new dimensions to the Border.

We give the British a new reason for holding onto the North of Ireland, namely, security considerations, if we stay in the EU and the United Kingdom leaves. We give the unionists many extra reasons for staying in the United Kingdom because for them, at some distant time in the future, when perhaps some of them might say they would like to have a united Ireland, they have to join the EU if we stay in it. They would have to adopt the euro, and take on board all the new laws and regulations of the European Union that will be passed between when the United Kingdom leaves in the next two years and some hypothetical date in the future, when there might be a move towards Irish unification. These are major obstacles to winning over unionist consent or an element of unionist consent to Irish unification. One cannot have a united Ireland unless there is a move by a significant section of the unionist population in that direction. That is not there at the moment - I am not naive enough to think so - but those of us who would like to see Ireland reunited at some time in the future should take that point on board. Otherwise, one adds to the difficulties of reuniting Ireland and in effect, conniving at and helping to implement a second partition. That is undeniable.

Neutrality is a tattered thing but if we stay and are on our own in the European Union without the United Kingdom when Britain and Northern Ireland leave, we will come under pressure to take part in closer EU security co-operation. This has already been signalled. There was a meeting recently, one of the last summit meetings, which talked about the possibility of a military treaty. That could be done on an intergovernmental basis, which is perhaps why the Germans and others want to push towards closer security co-operation because they can do that without it being an EU treaty. It would be an intergovernmental treaty. They will put us under heavy pressure to go along with at least elements of that and with EU foreign policy or EU foreign policy positions. If we are in the EU without the United Kingdom, we are likely to be under greater pressure to go along with the foreign policy positions of France and Germany when they agree common foreign policy positions. One only has a common EU foreign policy when France and Germany agree. When they disagree, there is no common EU foreign policy. We are likely to be under pressure in that regard and to take part in EU military operations, the purchasing of arms and weapons and so on.

Senator Mark Daly made points about new trade agreements. Sensible negotiation between the United Kingdom and the European Union will lead to free trade, certainly in goods, although services maybe somewhat more difficult. No one can be entirely sure what the detailed elements of that agreement will be. That is why the penny will only begin to drop with the important business and farming interests in the Republic of Ireland in the next two years as the British negotiations continue and it becomes clearer what Brexit really entails. It would be foolish to take refuge in suggestions that the British do not know what they are doing. It was widely thought that the British did not know what they were doing until last December and then in January Mrs. May said they were leaving the Single Market and the customs union. That commitment was repeated two weeks ago in the Conservative Party manifesto. There would have to be a revolution in the Conservative Party for that manifesto commitment to be broken. It will happen and public opinion will bring it about.

At the same time, over the next two years, democratic opposition to further European integration, particularly to the austerity regime that is widely prevalent in the eurozone, is likely to raise opposition throughout the European Union to further integration and will encourage other states to consider leaving, as well as the United Kingdom. At present, everyone is keeping up a common front but I have little doubt that behind the scenes, approaches are being made to Brussels by different foreign ministries as well as to the United Kingdom. There will be states within the European Union who will say that the EU 26 must all present a common front but there will be approaches being made sub rosa that we do not hear about or that are not publicised, whereby foreign ministries in various EU member countries will be sounding out the British about various possibilities. We should do the same.

It is in our interest to come to an agreement with the United Kingdom because the North of Ireland is leaving the European Union, and us with it, and there is no obvious advantage of our staying in the EU that any of the distinguished speakers this afternoon have pointed out. We got a lot of benefit in the past, particularly on the agricultural side, but that is water under the bridge. It is no reason for staying in the European Union which is a supernational federal structure, with a federal-type constitution committed to further integration under the hegemony of Germany and France.

I may not have been able to cover all the points but I have done my best to cover the most important ones mentioned.