“Sinn Féin is arguing for the establishment of a €10m Brexit Support Fund to assist small businesses and farmers in assessing and preparing themselves for Brexit,” the party’s spokeserson on community and rural development, Carol Nolan TD, said ahead of this month’s budget.

She cited recent research by IBEC and Teagasc, showing that rural jobs were most at risk from a hard Brexit scenario, while the average farm income would fall by over 6%.

Deputy Nolan also called on the Government to carry out the research on the impact of Brexit on rural Ireland promised in the Action Plan for Rural Development.

“While I acknowledge that there has been extensive research carried out by relevant sectoral stakeholders, it is important that we obtain a comprehensive overview of the challenges faced by rural communities in social, economic and cultural terms,” she said.

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