Cantillon: can we afford to be a Brexit bystander?
The stakes are so huge for Ireland’s economy we cannot afford to stand quietly by
David Cameron: he has named June 23rd as the date for the UK referendum to decide whether it should remain in the European Union. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images
The shadow boxing is over. British prime minister David Cameron has named June 23rd as the date for a rare UK referendum to decide whether it should remain within the European Union on the basis of reforms he has secured, or go it alone outside the trade bloc.
For Ireland the stakes are huge, even if few here have yet to engage fully with the possibilities.