Thread by @astaines

Getting ready for the @DCU_Brexit_Inst seminar today on #Brexit and finance.

Now @Paschald preparing for the start of the session.

Our president @muirtheimhne opens the session in his usual fluent Irish.
This is part of the @DCU_Brexit_Inst series of seminars.

The main speaker @Paschald talking about the impact of #Brexit uncertainty - a process whose endings and outcomes remain obscure.

Now @Paschald quotes from Churchill's 1948 speech on the future of Europe and Britain's place in it.
europa.eu/european-union…

So, @Paschald makes the point that regardless of the immediate outcome of #Brexit many years of negotiation lie ahead. The withdrawal agreement is only the prelude to this process.
This is just a 'phase of Brexit'

He quotes Beckett
'I can't go on, I will go on'

@Paschald says that Britain clearly desires to work outside the current EU rules, and @BorisJohnson has said 'this is central to our democracy' in a letter this summer.
Regulatory divergence matters to us, because of @BorderIrish

Our response will be to double down on our membership of the Single Market, and invest accordingly. @Paschald

Compared with '05 to '09 our economy is in a much better place. There are still challenges, but help is in place for #Brexit especially for SME's and agriculture. @Paschald

In the budget the aim will be to stabilise, prepare, and ensure that nothing in the budget has to be resiled from.
Deficit might be 0.5 to 1.5% next year.

All of this is a huge challenge to the island, and especially to Northern Ireland. We've had 21 years of peace, and this needs to continue. Both governments are co-guarantors of this.
Consent & territorial integrity are both protected in the back stop.

The Government *is* open to solutions that achieve this end. In the absence of a solution the Govt. is working with the Commission to achieve a border with no infrastructure at the border.
@Paschald

Ireland will retain the openess to trade, investment, and talent which has benefitted us all. The EU was fundamental to our transformation, as were the policy choices of independent Irish governments.
In an ever closer union our influence with other states matters more
@Paschald

The Hansa group of us, Netherlands, Nordic, Baltic states is one key link for our future.

Now @Paschald quotes David Trimble on the key role of the EU in bringing peace to many areas, and providing a different context for Northern Ireland.

Finally @Paschald days that #Brexit poses all of us a big challenge for us and for our future. We have to meet this with patience, imagination & critical inquiry, while maintaining very close friendly links with the UK.