ABSTRACT
On 25 June 2016, the day after the UK referendum on European Union (EU) membership, an Irish Times headline declared, ‘Deep disquiet as vote pushes North[ern Ireland] into “unchartered waters”’. The headline encapsulated the profound sense of dismay felt in Ireland following the UK’s unexpected decision to leave the European Union (EU). For Ireland, the UK vote to depart the EU poses acute economic and political challenges. Indeed, such is the magnitude of the Brexit issue for Ireland that the National Risk Assessment 2017 has identified the UK exit from the EU as a ‘strategic geopolitical risk’ and a ‘strategic economic risk’ for Ireland (Department of the Taoiseach 2017). In a foreword to the document, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar notes, ‘Brexit represents an overarching theme that could have far-reaching impacts on nearly all aspects of national life’ (ibid.). More than any other EU member state, Ireland stands to be most severely affected by their neighbour’s decision to sever ties with the EU. The Irish state harbours fundamental concerns about the likely negative impact of Brexit on the economy and about the potential for Brexit to be accompanied by political instability in Northern Ireland.
