I did a predictive coding panel with Karyn Harty of Dublin-based firm McCann FitzGerald while we were at Lawtech Europe Congress in Brussels recently. It seemed an appropriate place to ask Karyn Harty for her view on the implications of Brexit for Ireland.
Karyn makes it clear the membership of the EU is crucial to the Irish economy and that there is no appetite in Ireland to leave the EU. The adverse economic consequences will be significant. There are, however, opportunities in, for example, financial services, and we are likely to see insurance companies and others move out of London; Dublin must compete with Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam and Luxembourg. Karyn also identifies an opportunity in an energy link between Ireland and France which may not previously have been considered.
There are also opportunities relating to the handling of data if Brexit happens – Ireland has a highly-educated English-speaking population and is already home for many international technology companies for good reasons which go well beyond tax-related ones.
Ireland has had high levels of immigration, Karyn says, and doesn’t “get upset” about it – it contributes to the mixture of skill sets, including languages, available in Ireland. US data flows are going to need an English-speaking home in the EU which represents a specific area of opportunity.
