Britain is 'backwards' for Brexit vote, says Irish opposition leader
Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin says UK policy since the vote to leave the European Union is "a shambles".
Sunday 20 November 2016 15:58, UK
Ireland's opposition leader has attacked Britain for "backwards-looking nationalism" in voting for Brexit.
Micheal Martin made the remarks as he called for Ireland to find a new urgency in dealing with the fallout of the referendum.
The leader of the Fianna Fail party said: "Britain has taken the route of a backward-looking nationalism, suspicious of outsiders and committed to the historically false idea that you don't need strong international bodies to secure lasting cooperation and prosperity between nations.
"In the five months since the UK's Brexit vote the only things which are clear are that their policy is a shambles and that it is already causing real damage on this island."
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Ireland's largest party in parliament, Fine Gael, has a minority government and relies on Fianna Fail to stay in power.
"We are not going to join the English in their desire to repeal the 20th century," said Mr Martin.
"We will not join them in their right-wing ideology of trade rules with no social dimension and no enforceable laws."
Mr Martin was speaking in County Cork at a commemoration to Sean Moylan, an IRA commander from the 1920s who became a government minister.
He said it was time Ireland developed a strategy to lessen the impact of "the hard Brexit which is already under way".
"The unprecedented decline in sterling may soon be followed by new barriers to trade," he said.
"We can't stand by and let this slow-motion crash happen."
Mr Martin wants to see a EU-funded programme to help businesses hardest hit by Brexit.