Dr. Kieran McQuinn:

Dr. Lawless did quite a lot of work in this area some time back. We speak about the clear impact on agriculture, and one would instinctively think of Border counties and parts of the north west, but there are other anomalies. For instance, north Cork, where I am from, has a considerable reliance on agrifood and agricultural activity. There is quite a regional spread, albeit outside of urban areas, as to where Brexit will have an impact.

My colleagues from Teagasc have looked at this and would be able to comment in far greater detail, but there serious and obvious implications for certain key sectors of the agricultural economy. The beef sector, which is facing challenges aside from Brexit anyway, is particularly vulnerable, especially if free trade measures are introduced in the UK and more cheap beef and meat produce come into the UK market. The figures show that the Irish beef sector is struggling to be profitable and viable outside of the support payments it gets as things stand, so the prospect of a substantial reduction in the price the sector could get from the UK market compounds the difficulties the sector is already facing.