Mr. Gabriel Makhlouf:

We are part of a market of more than 300 million people and the UK is not. That is one issue. Honestly, if one thinks about why the Irish economy is in the position it is in now, it is for a number of reasons including the fact that we have the rule of law operating, we are in the EU and we speak English. It is also because we have a much more special relationship with the US than the UK thinks it has and as a result, we have had incredible investment here. Another issue, which is underplayed and which for most people is forgotten, is that some of the education changes we made in the mid to late 1960s have fed through and have led to the development of a very skilled labour force. That has played a part, never mind the decision we made to open up.

This is one of the great paradoxes of what the UK has done. In the 1960s, Ireland decided to open itself up to the world but the UK has actually decided to close itself off from the world. For us, 60 years on, we have had ups and downs in this period but we will see in another 60 years how the UK is doing, having closed up, compared to how we are doing - and have done - by opening up.