“Farming would be devastated, with average incomes falling by 26%. Cattle farm incomes would be worst hit, dropping by a massive 37%. That would devastate suckler beef production in Ireland.”

Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness: “Theresa May has pulled away from saying that they don’t want to be a part of the customs union to saying something softer than that, we must welcome the move.”

IFA economist Rowena Dwyer: “If we want a soft border, it has to be one that does not have the potential for cheap imports coming into the UK, arriving in Ireland. We are going to have to have a strong border that checks things as technical as country of origin.”

COPA president Martin Merrild: “From the experience of the Russian ban, Brexit is a problem for all EU farmers.”

Dairygold chief executive Jim Woulfe: “The equivalent of the 100,000t of cheese going to the UK market is more than a billion litres. We have invested in that and worked hard on developing the byproduct, whey. So from that perspective it is absolutely crucial on two fronts – the cheddar cheese industry cannot sustain WTO trade tariffs”

Dawn Meats chief executive Niall Browne: “53% of what British shoppers buy on the retail shelves is mince. The rule in Britain is that that product must be minced fresh within eight days of slaughter. To think that third countries are going to be able to logistically ship over product and get it minced within eight days is not going to happen.”

Bord Bia chief executive Tara McCarthy: “The need for the assurance schemes has never been greater than it is today, because it is a fundamental prerequisite to get access to the customers that we want.”

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