I’m told that when you take your first skydive and the parachute safely opens to check your rapid descent to earth that the feeling of relief is palpable, but you soon realise that there’s plenty that could still go wrong before you land with all your limbs intact.
That’s a bit how the meat industry in Ireland is feeling about Brexit. With the last-minute completion of a trade deal between the EU and UK, the parachute opened to stop the freefall on December 24th, and January 1st passed without a crisis. Trade has continued to flow with our nearest neighbour, and a delicious Irish rib-eye steak is on the supermarket shelf and available to UK consumers to enjoy.
Strangely it was the panic about the new Covid strain, rather than Brexit, that led to news bulletins filled with pictures of Kent being turned into a parking lot after France shut its border on public health grounds, just before Christmas.
To read the full article by The Irish Times, please click here.