Irish trade with Britain, Northern Ireland climbs despite Brexit

Trade between Ireland and both Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK continued to increase in the first half of 2022, despite an ongoing row over checks on goods as a result of the UK’s Brexit departure from the EU.

Imports to Ireland from Great Britain from January to June grew 54% from the same period a year earlier, while exports rose 38%, trade data from the Central Statistics Office showed. Imports from Northern Ireland over the period were 21% higher than in 2021 and exports to the region increased 38%.

The figures come as the UK looks set to continue with legislation which would let Britain unilaterally rewrite key parts of the Northern Ireland protocol -- the part of the Brexit treaty which effectively keeps Northern Ireland within the EU’s single market for goods -- amid claims it’s causing trade disruption.

Overall exports of goods increased by just over 30%, and the value of imports increased by more than a third, driven in particular by chemicals and related products.