Speaking at the all-island dialogue on Brexit and agriculture with industry representatives in Gormanston, Co Meath, on Wednesday, Minister Creed warned that uncertainty surrounding the future of the key trading relationship with the UK would last for the foreseeable future.

"What is going to happen immediately? They trigger article 50, there are French elections, there are Dutch elections, there are German elections. I don't expect that there will be serious engagement until the back end of 2017," he said. While he expects an "acceleration to finalise the divorce" after that, he does not expect the terms of the new trading relationship to be set immediately.

I can't see how it benefits anybody to be motivated by revenge

Yet Minister Creed thinks that by that time, the mood will have mellowed between UK and EU leaders. "If we're predicated in our negotiations on damage and punishment for the UK, we also inflict damage on ourselves, and I think as this thing moves down the road, there will be a more mature approach to how the trading relationship will work," he said. "I can't see how it benefits anybody to be motivated by revenge. I think once time passes and we negotiate a trade deal, it will be like we're negotiating with any other third country in terms of a trading relationship," he added, admitting that his assessment might be "wildly optimistic".

'Phenomenal engagement'

In the meantime, the minister said that he and his department have been having "phenomenal engagement" with institutions in the UK, the EU and like-minded member states, as well as key supermarket buyers and industry groups such as the UK Food and Drink Federation. This work, however, is complicated by the lack of clarity around the UK's expectations for its post-Brexit agri-food trade with the EU. "That's frustrating us, and it means that we have to continue to model all possible scenarios and see how we position ourselves," Minister Creed said.

Watch an interview with Aidan O'Driscoll, secretary general of the Department of Agriculture, on preparations for Brexit negotiations in our video below:

Minister Creed said that Ireland has been pushing a twofold agenda: "It's for as close as possible to unfettered tariff-free access to the UK market to continue and equally, and I think of critical importance also that in a post-Brexit situation, the EU and the UK would move in tandem in terms of negotiations on new trade agreements as they affect the agri-food sector."

When the UK becomes free to trade independently from the EU, it may become tempted to import cheap food from regions such as South America and "displace our food in supermarkets in a way that we couldn't compete with. That's where issues such as certifications, standards and all those things are important," Minister Creed said.

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Listen: Ireland-UK Brexit talks on agriculture already under way