IRELAND will be the most impacted country when Brexit comes into force in April 2019 and will face unprecedented economic, political and diplomatic challenges.

That’s the view of the RDS Brexit seminar panel who highlighted many issues currently taken for granted such as the free movement of horses within EU member states.

Panel chairman Tom McGurk pointed out that “in two or three years’ time, it could be a hugely complicated task to bring horses from the north to the Dublin Horse Show for example.”

The panel urged Irish businesses, big and small, to start planning now to meet the challenge.

Associate Professor of Animal Breeding and Associate Dean of the International Programems in the School of Agriculture and Food Science at UCD, Dr Alan Fahey, said: “Brexit might attract IT or financial companies to Dublin but that’s all Dublin, there is nothing from Moate or rural Ireland. Brexit could be a disaster for rural Ireland.”

He advocated the setting up of a task force to represent the needs of the combined racing, bloodstock and equestrian sectors so that maximum effect can be leveraged for the Irish equine industry as a whole.

“We may need a rural Ireland task force with equine, agriculture etc all in one, so that would be a much larger voice and a bigger impact for rural Ireland.”

ANIMAL WELFARE

Dr Fahey also warned of possible animal welfare risks arising from delays in the movement of horses and/or accompanying paperwork.

“If it has poor animal welfare, people will revolt against your industry,” he added, highlighting that it was legislation and not technology that was the big issue behind many possible Brexit implications.

Superintending veterinary inspector at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, John Melville, said that the passport and transponder system had “served the industry very well” but an amendment will need to be put in place, agreed by a majority of the other EU member states, to allow the Tripartite Agreement continue to operate between Ireland, the UK and France if the UK becomes a third country.

BORDER INSPECTION

Fears of having to put a Border Inspection Post system at ports like Rosslare, Holyhead and Fishguard, similar to what is in operation at Dublin Airport for horses travelling to Ireland from America.

There’s plenty of contact between the various veterinary departments in Ireland, Northern Ireland and London. “They are very concerned like we are. The whole process is at a high political level still. It does not make sense to have a hard border between ourselves and the UK.

“There is potentially serious consequences, thousands of horses go between Ireland and the UK and thousands more go via Ireland and the UK on to third countries and transiting horses could be unchartered territory, the complications could be mind boggling.”

The panel heard that if something was not in place for Brexit in terms of the EU voting process by October 2018, the WTO condition will kick into place by default by April 2019. This was outlined as a “nightmare scenario, the worst possibility.”

Turn to page A56 for more on the RDS Brexit seminar