Ireland to net 1.05bn of EU Brexit Reserve Fund heres some of worst-hit sectors who can expect to benef – The Irish Sun

BUSINESSES across Ireland will be hoping for relief after it was announced Ireland will net 1.05bn from the EU Brexit Reserve Fund.

We are to receive almost a quarter of the 5.4bn war chest, given our position as one of the nation states worst affected by our nearest neighbours departure from the union, followed by Holland (760m), Germany (455m) and France (420m).

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The cash will be given out over the course of this year but member countries who receive it will have to account for how it was spent in 2023.

Here, the Irish Sun examines some of the worst-hit sectors who can expect to benefit.

Irelands fishing industry is perhaps the biggest casualty of Brexit and could lose up to 35million per year.

As part of the haggling on quotas, the EU agreed to hand over 25 per cent of the catch from UK waters during the next five-and-a-half years.

Irish trawlers have also found themselves barred from areas they depended on for decades, with one Donegal vessel, the Northern Celt, recently ordered to leave the seas around Rockall by a Marine Scotland ship.

Its not yet been decided how much of the 1bn will go to the industry here and Government insisted it should not be seen as exclusively about fishing.

However, as the EU has announced an overall 600m for European maritime communities, those here can expect at least 150m on a pro-rata basis.

The hundreds of small agri-food businesses which have long sold their produce in the UK were always going to be one of the worst hit sectors.

More than 173,000 people work in the industry here, which generated 14.5 billion worth of exports in 2019, most across the Irish Sea.

This led the Government to allocate an initial 100m in funding at Christmas, but firms will be seeking more from the Brussels money.

Producers aware of looming trade problems had been diversifying into other markets such as China, the Middle East and North Africa, but the transport issues caused by Brexit and Covid also interfered with these exports.

But while bigger processors could weather the storm, it will be family businesses that take the brunt.

The Department of Agriculture has estimated farm incomes could drop by up to 13 per cent due to lower livestock prices, despite the deal to avoid tariffs.

Given the Common Travel Area the biggest Brexit-related threat to tourism here is the potential decline of the UKs economy and a resulting fall in the value of sterling.

A drop by the pound against the euro would affect the entire eurozone, but as one of the more expensive countries in the EU, Ireland can least afford it.

3.7m of the 10m visitors who came here from abroad in 2019 were from Great Britain and British tourists remain a vital support, especially outside the most attractive destinations.

Tourism Ireland says it has been preparing for Brexit since the vote in 2016, but could not have factored in the devastation caused by Covid-19 to the industry.

Any funding to accommodation and tour providers will likely come in the form of income supports and tax breaks, but the good news is that Tourism Ireland is adamant visitors can be won back with the right marketing.

Unless of course sterling plummets seriously in value.

A fall in sterling could also be disastrous for retailers already struggling with Covid-related issues.

While some stores such as hardware and home furnishings have enjoyed something of a lockdown boom from consumers with nowhere else to spend, not everyone has benefitted.

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Prolonged closures of non-essential outlets have devastated incomes while leaving them with rent and other overheads to pay.

And with 75 per cent of online sales already flowing out of the country to web giants like Amazon, a stronger euro will make items under 22 which do not attract VAT even more attractive to Irish shoppers.

Like publicans, retailers are on their knees and Retail Excellence said it wants the Government to prioritise its members as key beneficiaries of the 1bn EU cash.

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Ireland to net 1.05bn of EU Brexit Reserve Fund heres some of worst-hit sectors who can expect to benef - The Irish Sun