Ireland is launching a charm offensive on the UK’s financial services market after Brexit
The Irish government has embarked on a charm offensive in a bid to lure parts of the UK's financial services market to Dublin in the aftermath of Brexit.
Financial services minister Eoghan Murphy is meeting firms in the capital this week to discuss the merits of the Ireland as a gateway to Europe.
Just days after Dublin pitched itself to Europe as the ideal home for the London-based European Banking Authority, Murphy told City PM he is confident Ireland's financial services market will gain from Brexit.
While Murphy is in the City to lead a delegation of Irish financial services companies looking to increase their relationship with the UK, he said the trip also presents opportunities to meet companies considering the consequences of the referendum vote.
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“If that means locating a new operation or moving an existing operation outside of the UK, well, these companies are doing contingency planning and Ireland is on the list. If there's an opportunity to have discussions around that then we'll take them,” he said.
“Brexit only underscores what we think are the opportunities and advantages to locating in Ireland and using Ireland as a gateway in to the European market,” he said citing the republic's EU and Euro membership as well as shared language, and common law jurisdiction.
Ireland has a long-held goal of increasing its financial services headcount by roughly 30 per cent to just under 50,000 staff by 2020.
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Murphy declined to comment on the number, or nature, of the firms he has met in London, but maintained it is “likely” that Ireland will be boosted by “some” migration.
He added that he expects London to remain a strong financial services hub after Brexit, and warned some of his European peers against seeking to punish the UK for voting to leave the EU.
“It will be important when we get into negotiations that people are approaching those in a professional and pragmatic and rational way that the more outspoken views, it's probably best that those are put to one side to so we can get into meaningful discussions around getting to an outcome that is satisfactory to both sides,” Murphy said