gabriel makhlouf : centenary of the establishment of the irish state remarks by mr gabriel makhlouf, governor of the central bank of ireland, at the centenary of the establishment of the irish state, dublin, 23 november 2022. * * * minister donohoe, minister fleming, deputy governors, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. i'm delighted to welcome you all to today's important event. we are at another important point in the irish state's decade of centenaries programme. since its initiation in 2012, the central bank has been very proud to play its part. this is the third commemorative gold coin that we have issued during the decade of centenaries. we issued €100 gold coin in 2016, to commemorate the centenary of the 1916 easter rising, and again in 2019, to commemorate the centenary of dail eireann. it's important to recognise that the years from 1921 to 1923 mark a more complex period in ireland's history. included in these years are the struggle for independence, the civil war, the foundation of the irish state and partition. remembering these events appropriately, proportionately, respectfully and with sensitivity matters. so much of the recent programme has focussed on promoting a deeper understanding of the significant events that took place during this period and recognising that the shared historical experience of those years gave rise to very different narratives and memories. the free state was founded in 1922 under the terms of the anglo - irish treaty of 1921. its establishment was the major turning point in modern irish history when irish people took control of their own destiny and built the country that ireland is today. the central bank is proud to have played a very important part in that history. from the administration of exchange controls, to the management of the sovereign debt market, from decimalisation, to the euro changeover. throughout all of this time, guided by the 1942 central bank act, our constant and predominant aim has been the welfare of the people as a whole. it's also worth noting the direct historical links of the central bank's early leaders to the important event we have recently commemorated. our first governor, dr joseph brennan, was introduced to michael collins during the war of independence and was financial advisor to the team negotiating the anglo - irish treaty. bringing things back to our current role, we act as the agent for the minister of finance in issuing all irish coins, both circulating and commemorative. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers '

deleveraging needs and better labour market conditions. furthermore, the recovery in business investment is supported by improvements in corporate profitability and the very favourable financing conditions. at the same time, euro area exporters are benefiting from the ongoing global economic expansion. these figures give some comfort as to the eu ’ s economic future. and i personally am confident that this trend can and will continue. however, challenges are looming : two particularly serious ones are brexit and euro area reform. the current, upbeat trajectory has to be harnessed as we set about mastering these historical challenges. 4. brexit looming the first challenge, brexit, began in june 2016, when the majority of uk voters decided to leave the eu. where are we now? brexit is definitely happening, and it is more and more likely to be a hard brexit – by which i mean that there will be a complete exit rather than a partial one. the uk and the eu will go their separate ways. since december of last year, there is a better chance of reaching a sensible agreement before the deadline of march 2019. the eucouncil agreed in december on the brexit divorce issues : basic compromises were reached on three fundamental questions, namely the rights of eu citizens in the uk after brexit ( and vice versa ), the border between ireland and northern ireland, and the uk ’ s financial contributions to the eu budget over the coming years. this compromise allows us to move forward to negotiate the terms of our future partnership. but let ’ s keep in mind that substantial progress has yet to be made on the details of the three 2 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches separation issues i just mentioned. now, since negotiations have been going rather slowly, there may be a transition period of two years from 2019 to 2021 – during which the old rules would still apply and the terms of the new partnership could be implemented. what kind of economic partnership this will be has yet to be determined. if no solution is found, the eu and the uk will trade under rules set by the world trade organization – which is in nobody ’ s interest, but is likely to be particularly harmful to the uk economy, while the economic impact on europe will be limited by comparison. take germany for instance. the uk is an important export market, accounting for ca. 7 % of german exports. but this implies only 2 % of value added to the german economy. my hope is that all the