THE leader of Fianna Fáil, Micheál Martin, has warned of "massive uncertainty" on issues such as renewed border controls between north and south, funding for Northern Ireland farmers and financial support for the peace process if the United Kingdom votes itself out of the European Union.
Speaking to the Irish News at his office in Leinster House, Dublin, he rejected the claim by secretary of state Theresa Villiers that border checks between the Republic and Northern Ireland would not need to be restored if there was a majority vote for "Brexit".
"She's in no position to say that," Mr Martin said. "The idea that people can leave the EU without consequences is just not tenable."
Asked if he could foresee the return of customs posts on the border which might become a target for dissident republican attacks, he replied: "You could have all of that."
But he added: "I don't want to scaremonger, I just want to make the point that the fundamental relationship that currently exists between Britain and Ireland, as members of the EU, will change [if there is vote to leave]."
Warning of the implications for farmers in the north, he said: "It would create huge uncertainty in terms of the funding that farmers currently get under the Common Agricultural Policy [which] would now be a matter of the British budgetary calculations."
The head of the Republic's main opposition party doubted that funds currently available under the CAP would be replaced: "Will a London government prioritise farming? No they will not."
Mr Martin was sharply critical of the Sinn Féin position that a border poll should be held on the island of Ireland if Brexit goes through. "It's nonsensical, it makes no sense to me," he said, adding that Sinn Féin was engaging in "a political manoeuvre"
He added that before the general election Sinn Féin signed up to the Right to Change Manifesto which included a call for Ireland to hold a referendum on membership of the European Union should the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) be signed without being put to a vote of the people.
"They have signed up to an idea that if TTIP is introduced without a referendum in Ireland they advocate leaving the EU," he said.
He said that if the UK voted to leave the EU, there would be an "absolute necessity for Ireland to be involved in whatever discussions happen subsequently".
Mr Martin highlighted the range of activities in support of the peace process that received very substantial EU funding: "Don't anyone tell me that funding would have come in from the British Exchequer."
He also recalled how John Hume had promoted the EU approach to politics by consensus to Northern Ireland.
The Fianna Fáil leader emphasised that he fully respected the right of voters in the Brexit referendum to make up their own minds but he added: "It's a huge risk for people in Northern Ireland to take, in my view, and I'm not clear what the benefits are."
:: Mr Martin's scheduled series of Brexit campaign events in Belfast on Friday were all suspended following consultation with the Vote Remain campaign as a mark of respect for MP Jo Cox who died on Thursday. Details of reorganised events will be distributed in due course.
