Irish unfazed by Brexit?

At Spancil Hill, Mylie Cash loaded his lorry on the evening before last Thursday’s Fair, drove it home to Kildare and was back on the morning of the Fair to load it again with cobs destined for England. He, like many others on the Irish horse scene, appeared totally unfazed by the prospect of the much vaunted British Brexit later that day.

When all the votes were counted and Britain had flown the nest, Martin Donohoe of Goresbridge Sales summed up the general Irish attitude to the new situation as he told The Irish Horse, “The British have always bought Irish horses and will continue to do so. What will be, will be.”

But none of us know what will be. Horse exporter Robert Daly sounds a note of caution saying, “British people getting off a plane in Ireland were often amazed at how far their pound went. Instead of buying one, they might buy two because of the value.”

Others noted that while sterling may go down, so too may the euro as people go for gold or the dollar.

There was also the opinion that Britain’s leaving may also have an impact on whether British buyers will have to pay VAT. However, it may be too early to rub our hands on that one since the exact status of Britain in that regard may still have to be worked out.

Now it has to be said that many in the horse world followed the word of the bookies. One of the late night songsters at Spancil Hill advised that he believed the bookies and prophesised that “No way would Britain exit.”

One has to feel for many thoroughbred buyers at Tattersalls last week, who followed that same logic and took a big hit when the pound did a Black Friday nosedive. But it will all sort itself out with time and the hope is that British buyers will still come over to buy here. Also, it is hoped that paperwork on bringing horses to Britain for sales there will not become too cumbersome. As Martin said, “What will be, will be.”