A no-deal Brexit is becoming more likely and threatens to knock Ireland back into recession as soon as next year, according to the organiser of what will be the biggest conference ever held in Cork city.
UCC hosts the Congress of the European Regional Science Association from tomorrow to Friday, which is set to attract more than 800 delegates. The potential impact of Brexit will be one of the key topics of the conference, with delegates hearing from academics who are analysing the regional and sectoral implications of the UK’s EU exit.
“We are just seven months from Brexit, and there is little evidence the UK government has the political will or ability to agree on a deal with the EU. This leaves the Irish economy in a precarious position,” said director of the Spatial and Regional Economics Research Centre Declan Jordan.
“The focus in Ireland on Brexit has been on the backstop agreement to prevent a hard border. There is far more at stake, however. The latest research shows that, among EU partners, only Irish regions are as exposed as UK regions to a no-deal Brexit. If the UK government continues with the nonsensical approach that the EU needs the UK as much as the UK needs the EU and seriously considers walking away with no deal, the Irish economy will be the major innocent casualty.”
There will also be talks on inequality and populism, the refugee crisis, and wellbeing, happiness and suicide during the four-day conference. There will be participants from the OECD, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank.