EU Attempt To Push No-Deal Brexit Makes Ireland 'Collateral Damage' - Irish Party

The United Kingdom's arguably inevitable exit from the European Union without a deal will inflict substantial damage on the Irish economy, something Brussels is willing to tolerate in a bid to punish London and dissuade others from following suit

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th August, 2019) The United Kingdom's arguably inevitable exit from the European Union without a deal will inflict substantial damage on the Irish economy, something Brussels is willing to tolerate in a bid to punish London and dissuade others from following suit, Ireland's right-wing National Party leader Justin Barrett told Sputnik.

According to Barrett, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been left with few options by the intransigent European Union, which has been refusing to renegotiate the withdrawal deal. A no-deal Brexit therefore seems to be Johnson's only chance to prevent his Conservative Party from disappearing altogether, according to the Irish politician.

"Whatever damage is done to Britain from a no deal Brexit ... we in Ireland will be the Primary victims of any economic fall-out from a no deal Brexit. Here it would be an absolute disaster because we are both economically dependent on Britain and the European Union, with the vast majority of our trade with the EU passing through Britain," Barrett said.

The European Union, he says, is meanwhile prepared to let London "go on that [no-deal] basis" in the hope that "it will do so much damage to the British economy that nobody else will consider that option again."

"And as far as Brussels are concerned the 32 counties of Ireland are collateral damage. They know but they don't care. The priority for them is the big game in that if Britain does leave [the EU] it leaves badly, as a warning to other countries. And if that means economic catastrophe in Ireland, and it does, they do not care," Barrett argued.

While Theresa May's government failed to renegotiate her contentious withdrawal deal with Brussels and had to ask the bloc for a Brexit delay, new Prime Minister Johnson pledges to take the country out of the European Union without "ifs and buts" by October 31.