A FORMER Irish ambassador has caused a stir after claiming that Ireland would be better off following Britain out of the European Union.
Ray Bassett, former ambassador to Canada, Jamaica and the Bahamas, was speaking after the Policy Exchange published his new report on the case for ‘Irexit’.
He says Dublin’s partnership with London is more important than its relationship with EU member states.
Speaking on BBC Daily Politics, Mr Bassett said: “Ireland wanted the UK to stay inside the EU, but now that it’s changed and the UK is certainly leaving the EU, and it looks like they’re leaving the single market and the customs union.
“We have to take stock of our position, and decide whether our best course is to stick with the remaining 26 or look at the issue of maintaining our customs and free trade with the UK.
Why's Ray Bassett given such coverage? His arguments are not just flawed but factually incorrect. Wonder what his real agenda is
— John Walsh (@JohnWalsh09) July 4, 2017
"Ireland could go to a position like Iceland or Norway where it stayed in the European economic area and at the same time had a customs union with the United Kingdom."
Mr Bassett added that Ireland should prioritise ties with Britain because there are “much greater connections” between the two countries than with the EU.
“Ireland and Britain have so many connections together that is by far our most important bilateral relationship,” he said.
“We’ve got to look if we break that relationship, as part of the EU – what do we get on the other side?
Ray Bassett should be taken very seriously ... we need to take a much more balanced view of Brexit and box clever #newstalkbreakfast
— DOB (@dervobrien) May 12, 2017
“The EU is moving in a direction we don’t particularly like.”
The consensus in Ireland favours remaining in the European Union.
A recent poll found that a huge 88 percent of Irish people think Ireland should remain in the EU, after the UK voted to leave in June 2016.
But Mr Bassett concluded: “We’ve shared a common jurisdiction for hundreds of years, almost every organisation in Ireland is linked into a UK organisation, and we don’t know what the final format of Brexit is.
“There is a danger that the EU will prioritise itself over the unique and special relationship between Ireland and Britain.”
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