Guest Speaker - Niamh McMahon Irish Consul
Niamh specialises in Commercial Law, sits on the Lawyers Disciplinary Tribunal and is the Irish Consul. In her spare time, she enjoys scuba diving. Niamh is a former Rotarian and recipient of a PHF for services to Rotary.
Brexit
Niamh started by explaining the representation of the colours of the Irish flag -
The green represents the Irish people, most of whom are Catholic.The orange color represents the British supporters of William of Orange who settled in Northern Ireland in the 17th century most of whom are Protestant. The white in the centre represents the peace between the two groups.
Ireland's main export partners are USA 22%, UK 14% and Europe 45%. The main import partners are UK 32% and USA 10.8%. The Irish border is 310 miles with 6,000 lorries crossing the border every day. If Brexit protaginists insist on maintaining a hard border, industry and business will grind to a halt as goods will no longer be able to flow freely across the border. The Common Travel Area (CTA), underpins the Good Friday Agreement which preserves the equality of access for citizens to move freely to live, work, study and access public services.
Ireland is the only native English speakng country in the EU.
Irish passports are in huge demand. This is being driven by people who want to retain their rights they currently enjoy as citizens of the EU.
Ireland As A Travel Destination
Tourism contributes 4% of GNP and employs 200,000 people and is worth 4.2 billion Euros to the Irish economy.
Niamh was thanked by Ken Palmer for her very interesting presentation. Niamh has offered to return to our Club again to talk about Brexit.