FORMER Taoiseach Bertie Ahern believes the tourism and food industry in the Border region will be affected when the United Kingdom departs the European Union.
Mr. Ahern has spoken of “the big danger” he believes faces farmers and businesses in the Fermanagh, Cavan and Monaghan area when Britain negotiates with other countries ahead of Brexit.
“The big danger with the beef is they’ll go to Australia or New Zealand and that’s where the real danger is for us,” he told a Brext meeting in County Cavan last week. 
Afterwards he reiterated that the “the biggest issue” for this area post Brexit will be the sale of food.
“There is a huge export of food stuff and your area is very good at that, to your credit. What kind of tariffs? What kind of trade deals? I think it’s massive for the whole of Ireland, particularly this region,” he told The Impartial Reporter.
The event at Hotel Kilmore was attended by a number of Fermanagh people including Brexit campaigner John Sheridan and former SDLP MLA Richie McPhillips.
Mr. Sheridan, a farmer from Florencecourt, told the meeting that the UK government “ought to have had the brains and the wit to know they needed a Plan B.”
John Paul Feely, a Fianna Fail Councillor based in Blacklion, said people in the Border region “probably didn’t think” that the UK would vote to leave the EU.
“We forget, I suppose, that the vote in the UK was so narrow. We also hear as a result of the UK general election about the possibility of Brexit not proceeding.”
He asked Mr. Ahern if he thought there was any possibility of a second referendum “based on facts rather than fear” and added: “Or are we just hoping against hope?”
But Mr. Ahern, the former President of the European Council, said he didn’t think so, suggesting that if the UK government had wanted to hold another vote they would have done so last year. 
He told the three hour meeting that there were few positives about Brexit.
“On the advantages I think we all agree it’s a deficit, it’s a negative. They [UK electorate] made a democratic decision and we have to live with that decision. It won’t go away for us,” he said.
He called on politicians in Northern Ireland to break the Stormont deadlock and “get back to doing the job they are paid for and elected to do.”
Mr. Ahern, who helped negotiate the Good Friday Agreement, said it saddened him to see the fall of Stormont and appealed to political leaders to find “necessary compromises.”
“Over the summer period they have to reflect on what is most important. Is it the future, economy, trade, people, capital goods, infrastructure, what is the most important?”
“For God’s sake, we want them back doing the job they are paid for and elected to do,” he said.
He said it was “absolutely extraordinary” that the North South Ministerial Council and the Northern Ireland Executive is not meeting to discuss Brexit.
“They need to be working together, to work through the problems that are going to massively affect the whole island but in particular the people of Northern Ireland,” said Mr. Ahern.
“There are no meetings taking place, it’s absolutely extraordinary because anywhere else in the world where you need your parliament, your government, the cooperation with other countries there are no meetings taking place. It is absolutely extraordinary,” he said.