Donald Trump has delivered a sharp critique of Ireland’s controversial corporate tax practices and called for an end to what he described as ‘unfair advantages’ that harm the USA.
In a fiery exchange with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Trump highlighted the economic distortions created by Ireland’s tax policies—long criticised for allowing multinational companies to siphon UK-generated profits into the Republic at rock-bottom tax rates.
Trump’s wading-into the topic forces uncomfortable truths about the UK-Ireland relationship onto the table. These go beyond the parasitic relationship between Ireland’s ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy and the UK economy. Trade tariffs are now fully exposing the unacceptable predicament that has been forced onto Northern Ireland in the post-Brexit world.
All this needs to change. Trump has fired the starting gun on a reset, and the UK must slipstream in behind.
A comprehensive realignment
As a fully independent nation outside the EU, Britain should no longer be bound by Brussels’ restrictive rules and is now in a prime position to reset its relationship with Ireland on terms where the benefits do not all flow in one direction.
The UK must treat Ireland like any other EU member state, rather than allowing the Republic to maintain the special privileges it has long enjoyed. This will ensure that British interests are equally catered for, free from EU interference and the meddling of Dublin or US Democrats seeking to impose their own interpretations of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Ireland’s joining the euro in 1999, its self-induced banking crisis of 2008, its subsequent bailout (in part with British money that has not been repaid), its adoption of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ model to enrich itself, and its willingness to be used by Brussels and to use the Good Friday Agreement as weapons against the UK during Brexit were self-interested actions that have cut away the mutual goodwill that was meant to be the basis of the Good Friday Agreement.
The realignment will go beyond merely revisiting the Good Friday Agreement and scrapping the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Windsor Framework, both of which have unjustly constrained UK sovereignty. It will put an end to outdated and one-sided dispensations that give Irish nationals preferential access to UK employment and education opportunities—perks used far more frequently by Irish citizens than by Britons seeking the same benefits in Ireland.
A Stronger UK Immigration Policy
A major shift will see Irish nationals treated the same as any other EU citizens when it comes to immigration. The automatic work and residency rights they have taken for granted will be revoked. The widely abused EU Settled Status scheme will be scrapped retrospectively from 3rd February 2025. Those benefiting from it will no longer be able to remain in the UK. Any UK/EU Under-30s mobility scheme that Labour might now agree to will also be closed off. The UK has for far too long been compelled to be an importer from Ireland – and from the EU as a whole – of their high youth unemployment.
At the same time, the UK will strengthen enforcement mechanisms to expose and annul sham marriages and civil partnerships that have been exploited as backdoor entry routes. By this point, Britain will have exited both the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, ensuring that only UK law applies—without interference from foreign courts.
Ending the Irish Sea Border and Restoring UK Sovereignty
The realignment will also deliver on one of Brexit’s key promises: removing the internal UK border down the Irish Sea. This will ensure that Northern Ireland is treated the same as every other part of the UK, with full and unrestricted trade between Great Britain and the province. At the same time, trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will be placed on the same footing as the UK’s trade with any other EU nation, eliminating any special status for Ireland the Republic.
Crucially, the UK will finally address the long-running abuse of corporate tax loopholes that have allowed Irish-registered businesses to exploit Britain’s market while paying little to no tax.
Crushing the ‘Celtic Tiger’ Tax Dodge
For too long, the Republic of Ireland has built its economy on a tax-avoidance model that distorts fair competition. Multinational corporations use Irish subsidiaries to book UK-generated sales, shifting profits across the border where they benefit from Ireland’s ultra-low tax rates—sometimes as little as 2-3% as an effective rate. This deprives the UK of rightful tax revenue, artificially inflates Irish economic performance, and allows the Irish government to build up a Sovereign Wealth Fund while the UK bears the cost.
The post-Brexit UK government will finally put an end to this by invoking WTO protections against anti-competitive practices and tax distortions. Ireland’s ‘Celtic Tiger’ model has long been a scheme of tax dumping, shifting wealth away from the UK while Irish-incorporated businesses enjoy privileged access to British consumers. Brexit should have ended this abuse—but instead, the tangled web of EU agreements, the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland Protocol, and the Windsor Framework have helped preserve and even expand these unfair practices. Now that can change.
Taking Back Control for Britain
With these bold reforms, the UK will at last be free to enforce its own laws, control its own borders, and ensure fair competition in its own economy—without interference from Brussels, Dublin or from Democrats in Washington.
The days of the UK being exploited by Ireland’s tax haven tactics are coming to an end. Under this new approach, British sovereignty will be fully restored, and the UK will finally reap the true benefits of Brexit.
TUV MP Jim Allister KC Blasts EU Trade Retaliation
In the meanwhile Britian – and Northern Ireland in particular – has to live with the negative consequences of the agreements struck with Dublin and Brussels, with Democrats in Washington acting as their guarantor in Ireland’s favour.
These consequences have come into clear sight as a result of EU retaliation to US import tariffs, a subject that should have no impact whatsoever on Britain.
Instead, Northern Ireland is right in the middle of it.
In response to that TUV MP Jim Allister KC has slammed the latest EU trade measures, exposing yet another consequence of Northern Ireland being treated as an EU outpost rather than a full part of the UK. Allister said:
“The EU has today announced its intention to retaliate to the introduction of 25% steel and aluminium tariffs, with its own package of tariffs in April. This is not retaliation in kind in the sense of a 25% tariff on US Steel and Aluminium but a retaliation in value. The EU says that the US tariffs constitute a $28 billion tax and it is responding with a counter 26 billion euro tax, but on completely different products, the diversity of which has been communicated by the headline: ‘boats, bourbon and motorbikes.’
“One of the absurdities arising from the EU dividing our country into two through their customs and international phytosanitary border, in addition to the huge problems arising from being alienated from the rest of our home economy and the constitutional injustice of our disenfranchisement in a staggering 300 areas of law, is the fact that our exporters and importers are also subject to EU rather than the UK tariff regime.
“Before today this already presented a challenge for NI businesses because UK trade instincts are more resolutely for free trade than those of the EU and so NI goods are more likely to import goods subject to a higher tariff than comparable companies in GB. The average UK tariff is 3.8% compared to an average EU tariff of 5%.
“However, the impact of the EU retaliation drives home yet again, much more starkly than before, how Northern Ireland has been cut off from the rest of our own country, and how we are now being subject, not just to legislation made by a foreign parliament that we did not elect, and cannot remove, but also the governance decisions of a foreign government we did not elect, and cannot remove.”
This is the case for change and Trump’s correct criticism of Ireland’s ‘Celtic Tiger’ model opens the door for a realignment. All we need is a government to exploit the opportunity.
By Bob Lyddon.
Bob Lyddon is an Independent financial analyst, a specialist consultant in international banking, and an advisor and regional chair of the Great British PAC. Follow Bob Lyddon on Twitter here or find out more about Lyddon Consulting here.
Main Image: For illustration purposes. Image created with Grok.
I like the direction we are going. The Government is busy negotiating our own trade deal with India and the USA. Plus as of December 24, the UK is officially a member of CPTPP trade bloc.