Major Brexit public meeting to take place in the Midlands this week

The Minister for Social Protection, Leo Varadkar, will address a public meeting on Brexit for the Midlands tomorrow night (Thursday) in Mullingar, as part of a series of meetings being organised by the Fine Gael Brexit Response Group, which was established in the autumn.

Minister Varadkar is just one of a number of guest speakers at the Mullingar meeting. Other attendees will be local Fine Gael representatives for Longford/Westmeath, Peter Burke TD, and Senator Gabrielle McFadden; Joe Healy, Irish Farmers Association; Patricia Callan, Small Firms Association; Arnold Dillion, IBEC and Brian Keegan, Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Speaking in advance of the meeting, Deputy Burke added: “Meetings like this are really important, as while everyone is aware of Brexit, many people are not fully engaged with the developments and how it will affect their lives. Every person in this State will feel the effects of Brexit, and of course there also will be opportunities to seize. This meeting aims not only to inform people of developments, but to let organisations and key stakeholders know what our priorities are here in the Midlands, in order to inform Ireland’s negotiations and policy planning.”

Senator McFadden referred to the UK’s relationship with the EU, saying: “When a relationship breaks down it can end in an 'Amicable Arrangement' or a 'Messy Divorce'. I believe that during the negotiations, we must do all that we can to argue for the former as this approach will deliver the best result for Ireland, even if that is not popular with some of the other players in Europe. I am keen to hear the opinions of the people of the Midlands on this.”

Minister Varadkar said: 'Four times in our history, Britain and Ireland have taken a different course: when we became independent in 1921, in 1948 when we declared a Republic and left the Commonwealth, in 1979 when we floated the punt, and in 2002 when we joined the euro without Britain. On each occasion there were difficulties but we worked through them and came out stronger and more prosperous on the other side. Brexit presents serious challenges but it is also an opportunity to take the next stage in our development as a nation state.'

The meeting will take place at the Mullingar Park Hotel on Thursday at 8.30pm.