Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is just over two weeks since the British general election. It appears the referendum in regard to the continued British membership of the European Union could be held in 2016 and the latest reports from Westminster suggest the parliamentary Bill which will pave the way for the vote will be published next week. We are all conscious that each sovereign country makes its own decisions. At the same time, however, we have a major selfish and strategic interest in Britain continuing its membership of the EU. There is over €1 billion of bilateral trade per week between the two countries and our two economies are very strongly linked. Therefore, there is an onus on us to get a clear message to the British Government about the value and strength of its continued membership of the EU, which will also be beneficial to our country.

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