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ALMOST SEVEN IN 10 (68%) small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Republic of Ireland think Britain leaving the European Union will have a negative impact on their businesses.
This figure rose by 5% in the last quarter of 2018.
A similar number of SMEs in Northern Ireland (62%) fear the same outcome, according to figures released today. This number remained unchanged in the last half of 2018.
The AIB Brexit Sentiment Index for the fourth quarter of 2018 also found that 35% of SMEs in the Republic and 40% in the North that had planned to expand or invest in their business have either cancelled or postponed investment plans due to Brexit.
In terms of the possibility of a hard border returning between the Republic and Northern Ireland, only 10% of SMEs in the North believe this will happen. However, this figure rises to 27% in the Republic.
The survey, which questioned 500 SMEs in the Republic and 200 in the North across a range of sectors, also found the following:
The Brexit Sentiment Index baseline is zero, with a potential range from +100 to -100. For Q4 2018, the index registered a score of -41 in the ROI, unchanged from Q3; and -31 in Northern Ireland for Q4 2018, compared with -35 in Q3 2018.
SMEs operating in the food and drink sector are most pessimistic (-53), ahead of retail (-45) and tourism (-42).
Catherine Moroney, Head of Business Banking at AIB, said despite the fact so many businesses are concerned about the impact of Brexit, just 8% have engaged in formal planning to deal with the outcome.
The survey found that the majority of SMEs (64%) believe their working capital requirements will stay the same in the next three years, while just over a quarter (26%) feel that they will require additional working capital as a result of Brexit.
Moroney said this is “particularly concerning as Brexit, whether hard or soft, will inevitably result in the need for increased working capital to manage businesses cost pressures or possible price inflation should Brexit eventuality result in the UK leaving the EU customs union”.
Backstop
Speaking in Belfast last week, British Prime Minister Theresa May noted that people living in Northern Ireland and the Republic are understandably “anxious” about Brexit as it is there many of the effects will be most keenly felt.
May is struggling to get a Brexit deal over the line. The draft Withdrawal Agreement struck between her government and the EU was rejected by the House of Commons by 432 votes to 202 last month.
Many politicians have raised concerns about the backstop element of the deak, which aims to avoid a hard border between the Republic and Northern Ireland and could see the North stay aligned to some EU rules.
The Democratic Unionist Party, which props up May’s minority government, believes the backstop threatens the United Kingdom and could lead to a trade border in the Irish Sea.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his EU counterparts have repeatedly said the Brexit deal cannot be renegotiated.
Preparations are being made at British, Irish and European level for a no-deal Brexit, in case an agreement is not reached ahead of 29 March.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt recently said the British government may seek an extension to Article 50 in a bid to secure a deal.
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My wife bought me a ticket as a Crimbo present I won €500 yay!! She has just spent it in Ikea!!! now I’ve to put all these flat packs together!!
Clever woman!
Congrats! And jealous of your wife’s lkea shopping spree :) happy flat packing!
Ah I’m happy for them…..but am so jealous!
I know I will get a lot of red thumbs for this. The only reason people go public after winning the lotto is to gloat to the rest of the country. I have more respect for people who dont go public
No I think you get less money if you stay anonymous.
I dont think its true graham. You dont have to go public. I know I wont even if they offer an extra, lets say 10k, to the 1M won.
How’s that?
Sorry you get an extra €20,000 for going public. Stand there for a few photographs for an extra 20k. I’d do it.
No way would I go public if I won it. I don’t want the papers harrassing me or my family
But what about the begging letters? I’d keep sending them if I won.
Jaysis that jokes so old it doesn’t have ancestors
Complete myth you get more for going public. National lottery confirmed it, pretty sure the journal had an article about it a few months ago
You get exactly the same money. Only difference is if go public you get the champagne day with the handing over of the cheque and photos shoot etc
I’d be fairly raging if I was the aunt….. Hope the throw her a few quid.
Why are media outlets so obsessed with the fact “the winner has yet to come forward”? The same in that rag, the independent. The draw was less than 48 hours ago! Give them a chance. And congrats to the winner and to this couple. Great start to their life together!
No i didn’t win but it’s my near year’s resolution to do just that.
“This will definitely help with the wedding” …. wedding of the decade there id say if that will just “help” :-) And as for the €1mill I suppose I should have bought a ticket! maybe Next time!!
how many tickets went into the drum on the night of the draw looked nothing like 300000 tickets we all sat looking and waiting and over 90% didn,t make it into the drum {ripped again}
Dave i think i read somewhere that only a certain amount of them go into the draw for the million…..they are all supposedly put in for the other draws. Same as winning streak only 100 tickets go into drum for the following weeks programme. I could be wrong
Money can’t buy happiness !!! Congrats to the winners !!
True, money can’t buy happiness, but it makes the search for it much more comfortable.
True that money can’t buy happiness But I’d rather cry in a bentley continental that on the 54A Bus.
If I did I will be shovelling the cocaine into my gaf!
No.
Id love to be at that wedding if it only going to help. I’d go collect me million if it would only stop raining.
Quite like the blonde in the green dress in the lotto crimbo
Draw ad..
The only way to positively guarantee winning the lottery is to get the numbers on your ticket to match the actual drawn numbers. Pity it’s so hard to know that in advance! I have a little just-for-fun page which generates my own personal random quick pick numbers. As I say, it is strictly just for fun, but you never know your luck! Look out for VillaLibra if you want to see if you can locate it.
have your say