Brexit and Ireland

The Dangers, the Opportunities, and the Inside Story of the Irish Response

Tony Connelly | 4.40 | 224 ratings and reviews

Recommended by Boris Starling, and 1 others. See all reviews

Ranked #7 in Brexit

Brexit represents potentially the single greatest economic and foreign-policy challenge to the Irish state since the Second World War. There is hardly any area of Irish life that won't be affected.

More than any other journalist, RTE's long-time Brussels correspondent Tony Connelly has been helping the public make sense of the implications of Brexit for Ireland. Now, he tells the dramatic inside story of the Irish response to this political and economic earthquake and lays out the agenda for the uncertain years ahead.

Based on extensive interviews with insiders in Dublin, London, Belfast and Brussels, Brexit and Ireland is full of insights about how the EU actually works, and of colourful and revealing stories from the corridors of power. It is a must-read for anyone who cares about Ireland's future.

'Required reading ... As Ireland navigates its way through Britain's withdrawal and the new Europe taking shape, this fine book offers an indispensable guide to the hazards and the opportunities along the way' Denis Staunton, Irish Times

'Excellent ... It ought to be read in every European capital ... Connelly examines how Brexit will affect every part of the Irish economy' John Bruton, Sunday Times

Definitive ... Connelly covers the politics very well, but he also writes vividly, with colour and pace and detail, about the businesses and communities that will be affected. It's a superb work of reporting, and a much needed one - Andrew Sparrow, Guardian

'One of the most enticing aspects of Connelly's book is his promise to tell you the inside story of the Irish response. This is delivered on ... He has an eye for human details that enrich the book: not only does he bring you into the room at Number 10 when Theresa May and Enda Kenny were engaged in the high-wire dance of working out the post-Brexit reality, but he tells you what they had for dessert ... The first-hand account of the mass mobilisation of Official Ireland's soft and hard power after the result, as negotiations got into gear, is engrossing' Jack Horgan-Jones, Sunday Business Post

'Magisterial ... Connelly has encyclopaedic knowledge of European diplomatic processes and the political realities of the border, and is able to use them to great effect' Donal O'Donovan, Irish Independent

'I was completely absorbed by Tony Connelly's Brexit and Ireland ... Connelly shows that the implications for the Irish Republic extend to the entire economy and its relationship with the EU' Brendan Simms, New Statesman Books of the Year

'A valuable guide through the Brexit labyrinth' Sunday Business Post Books of the Year less

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Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of Brexit and Ireland from the world's leading experts.

Boris Starling The EU has to have an external hard border at a point where the EU butts up against non-EU states. And yet Northern Ireland is British, part of the Common Travel Area, and the Republic of Ireland is a republic and part of the EU. They are logistically more or less the same place now. There’s no hard border. There has to be a hard border, but they don’t want one. That’s a circle that cannot really be squared. Connolly’s book is very, very good on how this will affect people. (Source)

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