The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney has predicted that Irish companies may move north of the border such is the "extraordinary" competitive advantage the Brexit deal offers the region.
"In time, when the politics of this settles down, business leaders will start to look at this for what it really is - which is an extraordinary business opportunity," he told the Belfast Chamber's annual lunch. He said his government would back an extension but cautioned that it was a case of "wait and see" if any of the other EU states raised "issues" with the move.
A Stormont vote on whether to extend an initial four-year period for the post-Brexit arrangements will be done on the basis of a simple majority of MLAs. Mr Coveney said many Irish businesses were raising questions over whether a "competitive advantage" for Northern Ireland had been deliberately designed into the agreement.
Brexit might not be so bad
Complete nonsense. Why would any company move to that economic wasteland known as NI. A place which can't govern itself. A place full of sectarian bigots living in the 19th century