Ireland would benefit if the UK strikes a favourable economic deal with the US, the Taoiseach has said.
Micheal Martin said while it was “early days” regarding the prospect of such a deal, his general view was that anything that benefited the UK economy had a knock-on positive effect for Ireland.
Mr Martin was asked whether Ireland should have an input in any UK/US negotiation on an economic deal, given the trading arrangements that apply in Northern Ireland as a result of post-Brexit accords between the UK and EU.
Northern Ireland applies EU customs rules under arrangements designed to ensure an open land border on the island of Ireland.
At the close of his St Patrick’s visit to the US, the Irish premier made clear that engagement on international trade policies was a matter for the EU, not for Ireland to act alone.
Asked whether he would be urging Sir Keir Starmer to ensure that the situation in Northern Ireland was properly factored into any deal that he might agree with President Donald Trump, Mr Martin said the UK Government was “very conscious” of those issues.
“The situation in terms of UK/US is not clear yet,” he told reporters.
“But from the Irish point of view, I take a general view that if the UK does well, Ireland will do well economically, because that economic relationship is very important.
“They are very conscious of the impact on Northern Ireland but, look, it’s early days yet in terms of any prospective trade deal, nothing is clear at all in respect of that.”
Mr Martin said Ireland was also working with the EU to “facilitate and ease” post-Brexit economic barriers on trade with the UK .
“Ireland’s relationship with Britain is still very strong economically,” he added.
“It’s a very, very important market for us. And, so, if the UK economy picks up in whatever shape or form, or for whatever reason, Ireland will benefit from that.
“And so that’s why the relationship between the UK and Ireland is very important, because we’ve got to control what we can control in a very challenging geopolitical situation. It’s challenging, but that’s how I see it.”
Mr Martin said he would not understate the importance of the recent UK/Ireland summit in Liverpool, signalling that it could pave the way for greater Anglo-Irish co-operation on off-shore wind energy production.
