Full coverage: Brexit

Some of the experts most directly involved in building a UK external trade administration from the ground up took questions from Irish businesses on Monday, detailing the progress they have made with two months to go – and the gaping holes remaining to be filled for exporters and importers trading between Ireland and the UK.

With Phil Hogan gone, the focus now turns to the position he has vacated. Here is why the trade commissioner job matters, and why an Irish candidate is likely to replace Hogan.

Since the crisis began, the Revenue Commissioners have halted audit work, allowed firms to warehouse debt and rolled out the state’s wage subsidy scheme. In an exclusive interview, its chairman Niall Cody talks about Covid-19, multinational tax structures and the Revenue’s battle against tax avoidance.

Harry Hughes has just steered the century-old Westport-based family business through the global dogfight for access to PPE while acquiring a stake in a footwear manufacturer in the eye of the pandemic storm. Yet he says companies should focus on something else: Brexit.

As Ireland haggles about greenhouse gas targets, New Zealand implements new climate legislation accommodating its livestock industry – one of many common interests with Ireland. Brad Burgess, the first Kiwi ambassador to Dublin, discusses growing business links and hopes of a trade deal.

Former Taoiseach John Bruton fears 2020 could be a bruising and divisive year for Europe as Brexit talks gear up again. No matter. He is on a trade mission to champion Ireland as a legal services hub and to exploit the spoils of the UK’s withdrawal.

The first stumbling block in Brexit negotiations starting today is fisheries, illustrating a deeper rift between the EU and the UK on how to approach an unprecedented large-scale, close-range free trade agreement.

From taxing multinationals to strengthening business ties in the wake of Brexit and getting lost in the Irish legal system, France’s pointman in Ireland inaugurates our new series of interviews with ambassadors to Dublin: Diplomatically speaking.

Insolvency figures are decreasing in retail in Ireland but this does not reflect the big picture for what’s going on within the industry. Bricks and mortar stores continue to battle the rise of online shopping and the uncertainty of Brexit.

Starting with a tax refund business, Fexco has built a global financial services empire. However, it fears new rules arising from Brexit could have adverse consequences, and it is now asking government to remedy it.