TÁNAISTE Simon Coveney has warned there will be no EU trade deal with Britain without a "level playing field".
With the UK scheduled to officially leave the EU at 11pm tonight, beginning a transition period that lasts to the end of the year, the Fine Gael deputy leader said it was a "very sad day".
"I think everybody is losing here, Britain will be weaker in terms of global standing for not having the support of the EU," he said.
"The EU will be weaker for not having the strength that Britain brings and Ireland will be somewhat weaker because our relationship is going to change with the UK, and you have to ask yourself, for what?"
He said history would judge the UK's decision to leave the EU as a mistake but it was a "decision the UK is entitled to make".
And the minister for foreign affairs warned that future trade negotiations would falter if Britain diverged from the EU on workers' rights or competition rules.
"There won't be a trade deal if there isn't a level playing field, one that is robust and credible," he told the PA news agency.
"Standards will have to be maintained in regards to environmental standards, or workers' rights and so on."
Mr Coveney claimed Britain had "tied its own hands" by ruling out an extension to the 11-month negotiation period for a trade deal.
"The EU wants a deal but recognises a full future relationship deal is not possible by the end of year, so we will have to prioritise within the negotiations," he said, adding that Brussels would be seeking a "good deal on fishing".
The tánaiste said the EU was "pragmatic" but would defend its own interests in any trade deal.
"I hope we don't get the sabre rattling we've seen in the last round, there was too much grand standing and not enough recognition of real and legal consequences."
He said the Dublin government would also be seeking the full implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol and the establishment of committees to look at how the region will operate in the EU customs code.
Mr Coveney said there was "no other option" than to have some form of checks on goods coming from Britain to Northern Ireland.
"If you're going to avoid border checks and Boris Johnson has signed up to that now and there has to be follow through, so that the Withdrawal Agreement is implementable," he said.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will host a cabinet meeting today in Sunderland – the first city to declare support for leaving the EU three and a half years ago.
In an address to be broadcast tonight, he will describe Brexit as a "moment of real national renewal and change".
“Our job as the government – my job – is to bring this country together and take us forward and the most important thing to say tonight is that this is not an end but a beginning," the Tory leader will say.
"This is the moment when the dawn breaks and the curtain goes up on a new act."
He will says a "new era" is dawning where a person's life chances do not depend on "which part of the country you grow up in".
“This is the moment when we begin to unite and level up."
