Brexit clock is ticking, detail is needed – Richmond

Ahead a series of engagements at Westminster this week, Fine Gael Senator Neale Richmond has urged UK politicians to provide detailed solutions to the problems posed by Brexit.

“One of the key problems with Brexit is that there has never been a clear vision of what Brexit should look like, it is a movable feast that differs from Brexiteer to Brexiteer,” Senator Richmond, who is Chair of the Seanad Brexit Committee said.

“With just over a year until Brexit becomes a reality, we are now at a crucial point in the negotiations where detailed proposals and concrete agreements need to be hammered out in order to prepare necessary treaties.

“Warm sentiment and positive speeches are simply not sufficient, the Brexit clock is ticking, detail is needed.

“It is welcome political agreement has been achieved that there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland, but we must now decide how that is to be achieved.

“It is a clear aim of the European negotiating side that a deep trading and customs partnership is the preferable option; discussions about this must now be comprehensive.

“Some in the UK believe that there are technical solutions to ensure that there will be no hard border, despite zero examples of this working anywhere else in the world.

“While we are bound to hear out any suggestions, these must be detailed, practical and cost effective. It is unlikely that such solutions will tick any of these boxes.

“The backstop solution of Northern Ireland remaining in regulatory alignment with the rest of Ireland and thus the EU as a whole is something that will be in the agreement but something that no one, anywhere, wants to see come to pass.

“It is in everybody’s interests to deliver on the first option of a deep trading and customs partnership, but the British side need to be far more forthcoming in how they see this being delivered if real progress can be made before the October deadline.

“The European side has made the effort and made some proposals but Brexit was not our idea, we cannot be expected to design something that we never asked for,” Senator Richmond said.

ENDS