This was the message from Mairead McGuinness, MEP and vice-president of the European Parliament, speaking at a Brexit event organised by the European Parliament in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dundalk on Friday.

“For the island of Ireland it would be disastrous if there was a divergence of standards post Brexit. The UK talk about the Great Repeal Bill, which would simply transpose EU directives and regulations into UK law.

“So in the immediate aftermath of Brexit, there might be no change”, she continued, “the danger lies in the monitoring of implementation – a job done for the EU by the Commission – and the question of whether or not the UK authorities would adhere to the standards.”

McGuinness added that there are also concerns for the future, and uncertainty about whether or not the UK would amend its laws in line with any updating of environmental laws by the EU in the future.

For the island of Ireland it would be disastrous if there was a divergence of standards post Brexit

“For the island of Ireland it would not be very desirable to have divergent standards in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

“The appointment of Michael Gove as the new UK Environment Minister does little to allay fears for environmental progress.”

She said Mr Gove was a strong supporter of Brexit and was in favour of cutting what he termed ‘EU red tape’.

Part of the EU red tape is environmental law in a wide range of areas, said McGuinness.

“Loss of biodiversity, pollution of our rivers and air can be costly to correct and can sometimes be irreversible. And when it comes to food safety standards and traceability of food, again the EU has led the way.

“Maintaining EU environmental standards North and South provides regulatory certainty for business and a way has to be found to make sure there is no diluting of standards in the UK,” McGuinness said.