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There is no section of Irish economy that could be more endangered by a hard Brexit than our equine industry.
As John Watson declared at the Irish Horse Board AGM before Christmas: “We do not want to go back to the bad old days of having horses standing for hours at borders.”
There is also no sector of Ireland with more potentially effective contacts within our European neighbours than that of our riders, owners and dealers.
As the ancient Irish proverb goes Ní neart go cur le chéile – there is no strength without unity.
Applying that sage saying to the present impasse with Brexit, Ireland’s greatest strength in the ongoing debate lies in the degree of unity with our cause that exists among our fellow members of the European Union.
We each have to find a way of helping the message get to the powers that be within each of those countries as to just what is at stake for Ireland in general and for the equine industry in particular.
Empty promises
Daily in the media we hear about how Ireland’s case is being pushed down the line – we will get to that after we get all the rest sorted.
In the power game being played out by our near neighbour, the hard-liners really took no account of the effect this move could have on the Republic of Ireland.
‘You did leave the United Kingdom and any problems you have with Brexit are really of your own making,’ appears to be the attitude.
But we are not on our own without friends and our job is to make sure those friends are constantly reminded of just what is at stake.
Exactly what the border is all about and what the loss of the tri-partite agreement could mean for us might hardly register out there unless it is explained on a very personal basis.
We can certainly help in that effort.
What do we really want for our horses, our sales, our shows, our riders? We want things to remain as they are now.
Statements about there being ‘no hard border’ are empty promises that may not be kept
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In the deadly game of checkers that is going on we could be painted into a corner which would lead to only one result – being leapt over as powerful forces aim for the big prize.
It would be a good idea if the inter-disciplinary group looking at Brexit, which includes Horse Sport Ireland, could put together a succinct outline of just what a hard Brexit could mean for the Irish equine industry and what we would really like to have happen.
This we could send to our friends across Europe, helping to spread the message to our European partners that we want our borders as they are with no double talk.
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