Tag Archives: Brexit

AN INDEPENDENT Clare TD has pledged to seek clarity on the trade relationship between Ireland and Britain, after joining a prestigious political grouping on the Good Friday Agreement.  Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne was appointed this week to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.  She joins the panel of nine TDs and seven senators to tackle matters including reconciliation, legacy issues, North-South co-operation, and Brexit and outreach. The Independent TD will be working alongside three members of her former party, Sinn Féin, as well as another ex-member of that party, Peadar Tóbín of Aontú. Clare’s other Independent TD, Deputy Michael McNamara was a member of the committee from September 2020 to October 2022.  On her appointment to the committee, Deputy Wynne described the trade relationship between Ireland and Britain as “incredibly significant” to Clare’s farming and business communities. She vowed to work to get answers to their questions on the future of trade, and to work …

BUSINESSES in Clare’s coastal communities are being encouraged to apply for the Brexit Blue Economy Enterprise Development Scheme, with funding of up to €200,000 available per capital project. The aim of the scheme is to stimulate growth in rural coastal communities post-Brexit, with funding available to businesses operating within 10 kilometres of the coastline and involved in the blue economy. The blue economy covers a wide range of economic activities within coastal communities such as seafood, coastal tourism, boat building and maintenance, marine recreation, and renewable energy initiatives. The scheme, the largest of its kind ever, is open to three streams of projects: Capital Investment, Business Mentoring & Capacity Development, and Upskilling & Training. A €25 million budget is available in 2022 and 2023, funded under the EU Brexit Adjustment Reserve. The Scheme is an initiative of the Government of Ireland and is being administered by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM). Paul Downes, regional officer at BIM, said the scheme, which …

CLARE beef farmers look set to be hit by further decreases in the meat prices following claims by Meat Industry Ireland of increased export costs caused by Brexit. Clare Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe recalled prices began to increase after Christmas with heifers in one meat plant hitting €4 per kg. At this stage farmers were beginning to hope that Teagasc’s break even figure of €4.40 per kg might be achievable. However, without warning Mr Woulfe pointed out the price collapsed by 20 cent, which has prompted fears of a return to the 2019 factory protest price of €3.65. The Quilty suckler farmer said there is an urgent need for a breakdown of what money is paid to the farmer, processor and retailer for meat. He expressed concern that retailers can reduce the price of meat to attract customers into their retail premises before stressing this shouldn’t be done at the expense of producers. He said Meat Industry Ireland need …

WowWee.ie who are supported by Local Enterprise Office Clare, were winners at this year’s National Enterprise Awards. The awards, which took place virtually were broadcast online from the Mansion House in Dublin, are in their 22nd year and run annually by the Local Enterprise Offices. WowWee.ie took home the Pivot Award. A personalised gifting company who relied heavily on corporate gifting saw their business disappear once the pandemic hit but pivoted to sell direct to consumers. The response has seen them excel in an extremely competitive market. The business is owned by Áine Gleeson from Ennis. Padraic McElwee, Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Clare said, ”WowWee.ie is a real success story. The judges were particularly impressed by the grasp Áine had of her business model, her focus in these challenging times and where the opportunities lie for the future growth of her business. We are very proud of Áine and wish her continued success with her business WowWee.ie.” …

A HUGE amount of problems have emerged in trading between Ireland and England since Brexit has become a reality, according to Clare haulier Eoin Gavin. He said that it is probably easier to trade goods with China than it is with the UK right now, with a range of administrative problems having emerged. “There are a huge amount of delays. There’s a lot of factors, but huge amounts of cargo aren’t moving between Ireland and England, probably more imports than exports I’d say. “It’s down to a number of factors, you have companies that weren’t prepared, they expected that things would be as normal but the UK is now a third country, so everything goes in and out of it has to be declared. There’s an awful lot of administration and paperwork on behalf of importers, exporters and hauliers. That’s one factor and then Revenue introduced an IT system on January 4 that wasn’t really tested and that’s causing problems …

This week we discuss why Shannon Airport is still struggling years after Leo Varadkar’s plan for recovery, the impact of Brexit on Clare and the US military veterans before the courts. https://soundcloud.com/clarechampion/the-champion-report-episode-10

https://soundcloud.com/clarechampion/the-champion-report-episode-7 Check out the latest episode of our podcast, featuring interviews with Liam Alford and Michael Vaughan.

IN London since 2002, 37-year-old Flan Vaughan of Doonbeg has been successful in business and runs both a haulage company and a plant hire company. The West Clare man said the vote to leave the EU has hit business quite hard. “I’d say our turnover would be down 25% over the last 18 months; it’s been winding down gradually. We were turning over five million, we’re back in the threes now.” He spoke to The Clare Champion on Wednesday, after Theresa May’s deal had been comprehensively rejected by parliament. Flan had hoped it would get through, while in the absence of an agreement, he would like another referendum. “A no deal is catastrophic for me anyway, absolutely catastrophic,” he said. The impact of the UK crashing out would see most of his business disappearing, he feels. “It’d be massive. I think it would take 75% of my work away. We would have to liquidate a lot of equipment and re-evaluate.” …