TheCity

Tag: Brexit

  • Major win for Boris Johnson as Conservatives set for strong majority

    Major win for Boris Johnson as Conservatives set for strong majority

    By Dave Stapleton

    Boris Johnson looks set to remain as the UK’s Prime Minister and will be backed by a significant Conservative majority in parliament, according to the latest polling results.

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    Latest figures from the BBC show that the Tory party has won 365 seats, a major majority which will allow Johnson to assume control of the House of Commons and pass the Brexit deal agreed with the EU and Ireland.

    Mr Johnson thanked his supporters last night through social media shortly after exit poll figures were released . “Thank you to everyone across our great country who voted, who volunteered, who stood as candidates. We live in the greatest democracy in the world,” he said on Twitter.

    Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party look set to face disaster as they are predicted to win just 203 seats – one of the worst results for Labour in recent history.

    Speaking at his election count in Islington North this morning, Mr Corbyn said he will remain as leader during a “period of reflection” for the party. He’s expected to step down in April when a leadership vote will take place.

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    This election marks the best showing for the Conservatives in a General Election since Margaret Thatcher’s win in 1987.

    Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats have taken just 13 seats, and the party’s leader Jo Swinson has lost her own constituency seat to the Scottish National Party, who have taken 48 seats.

    Ms Swinson said the result would bring “dismay” to many and under party rules has been forced to step down as leader.

    The Green Party have won one seat, while the Brexit Party has been blown away and have no seats at all.

    It suggests that the Tories’ campaign message of “Get Brexit Done” has completely whitewashed any platform for Nigel Farage’s pro-Brexit party.

    Northern Ireland results

    Unionists in Northern Ireland have lost the majority of the 18 seats in Westminister for the first time. There will be nine nationalist and republican MP’s from Northern Ireland, while unionists have won eight seats.

    The DUP’s Deputy Leader Nigel Dodds has been ousted by Sinn Féin, though it hasn’t been a good result for SF either. Its seat in Foyle has been taken by the SDLP in a decisive 17,000 vote majority.

    Full results:

    • Democratic Unionist Party: 8 seats
    • Sinn Féin: 7 Seats
    • Social Democratic & Labour Party: 2
    • Alliance Party: 1
    • Others: 0

    Where did it go wrong for Labour?

    Speaking on TheJournal.ie’s The Explainer podcast this morning, TU Dublin lecturer and former Targeting Manager for the UK Labour Party, Dr Kevin Cunningham said the Labour Party’s decision to take a remain position was a contributing factor to its failure.

    The Labour Party campaigned for a remain stance on Brexit during this election, compared to in 2017 when they took a largely neutral position.

    “There’s a big debate immediately emerging between the Corbyn gang and the rest of party, as to whether Corbyn and his left-wing agenda was the issue, or whether it was the Brexit position,” Dr Cunningham said.

    He also suggested that Corbyn’s policy messaging, such as talking about nationalizing broadband services, didn’t really succeed in connecting with voters.

    “One of the unique things about Britain is where you get your news from, dictates who you vote for. In Ireland you’ll have lots of [TheJournal.ie] listeners who vote for very different parties but certainly in the UK its extremely polarised.

    “If you read the Telegraph in the UK, you vote Tory – it means more so than class or anything you can possibly imagine. It makes it very hard for any messaging or policy to get any sort of cut through.

    “The labour voters are all online. Its massively skewed in different ways and everyone is talking to each other. The proportion of people getting their news online through Twitter, is limited by the fact that Twitter is filtered and limited based on who you are following. People are only hearing their side of the debate.”

  • Rosslare Europort costing Government €3.5 million

    Rosslare Europort costing Government €3.5 million

    By Pádraic Daly

    Construction of a new border inspection post at Rosslare Europort has cost the Irish Government over €3.5 million since construction began earlier this year.

    The total spend on the construction was €3,541,914 as of the end of October, according to figures obtained by TheCity.ie under the Freedom of information Act.

    The development, being carried out by the Office of Public Works (OPW), consists of facilities allowing the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, and the Revenue to conduct checks on goods entering and leaving the country post-Brexit.

    Work commenced in March on a 16-hectare site near to the port, which was purchased by the Government for €1.6 million.

    The site will have inspection areas for goods and livestock coming into the country from the UK, as well as facilities for drivers and parking areas for trucks.

    “It is worth upwards of €11 million to the Irish economy”

    Rosslare Europort is the second largest port in the country, and sees 120,000 trucks pass through it every year. It is worth upwards of €11 million to the Irish economy.

    Interim facilities are due to be completed by January 2020, with more permanent facilities due to be in place by the end of 2020. In the event of a no-deal Brexit, the OPW is certain construction at Rosslare will be able to cope with the custom checks required.

    A spokesperson for the OPW stated: “Interim infrastructure was put in place in Rosslare to deal with the possibility of a no-deal Brexit in March. This has been enhanced incrementally since then. The final phase of the development of this interim infrastructure is under way and will be completed by early January 2020.

    “Brexit is not a completely negative story for every port in Ireland”

    “The OPW are satisfied that the temporary facilities provided in Rosslare will be sufficient to allow import controls to be conducted in a timely and efficient manner thereby facilitating legitimate trade to the greatest extent possible.”

    Speaking in the Oireachtas last Thursday, Minister for Transport Shane Ross said: “Brexit is not a completely negative story for every port in Ireland. I gather that Rosslare Port is looking for potential opportunities arising from Brexit.”

    The new opportunities Minister Ross referred to include a plan to spend €25 million on upgrading the facilities at the port.

    Minister Ross explained that the port is also investing in infrastructure to deal with increased levels of traffic after Brexit: “Some €1.8 million will be spent every year for the next five years on general renewal and maintenance.

    “€1.5 million will be invested in information technology and creating a smart and automated port which will include vehicle recognition systems, trailer tracking systems, compound management and check-in and check-out systems.”

    A further €12.5 million is due to be spent upgrading the port to cater for larger ships.

  • Dutch (dis)courage: after Brexit and Trump will the Netherlands be the next political domino to fall?

    Dutch (dis)courage: after Brexit and Trump will the Netherlands be the next political domino to fall?

    With Dutch elections less than a month away, Cormac Murphy probes the political atmosphere that may cause fresh upset across a struggling post-Brexit EU.

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