Mr. Brian Keegan:

We have been in existence for over 125 years. We have 4,000 members in Northern Ireland. We are an all-island body and very proud of it. We have to respect very much the democratic overall decision, however much we might wish for it to be otherwise, including in commercial terms. Also, as a representative body, we have to look at the hand we are dealt in terms of how we can deal with the legislation as presented.

Since the focus of today's meeting is on customs, may I make an observation thereon? We have been working with a common customs system with our EU neighbours for many years. It evolved over many years. Our neighbours will not let the Republic of Ireland walk away from commitments under the EU treaties to police that system. Therefore, the reality is that if there were a two-year timeframe, no matter what we might want the United Kingdom to do in terms of customs, it simply would not have time to rewrite a customs system that would suit an all-island approach. Aside altogether from anything else, it is simply not possible. Furthermore, we would have a severe concern that, with the event of Brexit, the remaining 26 EU member states would be looking at us like hawks and saying that since Ireland is still in their club and has the land border with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, it has an obligation to the them to police it. What we can practically and pragmatically campaign for is very little other than making Governments, politicians and the various regulatory authorities aware of the concerns of business and what can be done to mitigate them. That is what we are trying to do in the context of-----