N. Ireland Protocol holds promise for FinTechs

After ousting its previous prime minister and navigating an economic crisis, Britain has renewed negotiations with Brussels on a range of issues, with new leader Rishi Sunak meeting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the COP27 summit in Egypt earlier this week .

One of the issues at hand is the Northern Ireland Protocol, a divisive part of the Brexit divorce deal that kept the Irish land border open by creating a new trade border in the Irish Sea.

For the UK’s significant FinTech sector, an agreement that ensures minimal friction at the Irish border is particularly important as it represents an important bridge to the EU.

And with little progress made under the Johnson and Truss governments, Sunak now has an opportunity to turn a clean slate and reset Britain’s relationship with Europe.

Related: Businesses are leaving mainland Europe to focus on post-Brexit Britain

Ireland’s cross-border workforce

The stretch of Ireland between Dublin and Belfast has been dubbed the FinTech Corridor because of the critical role the island plays in connecting UK FinTechs to wider European markets and EU-based companies to the UK

For example, since opening its European engineering center in Dublin in 2019, Stripe has been in a position to tap into talent pools on both sides of the border.

Commenting on the engineering center in an interview with the Belfast Times, Stripe’s chief technology officer David Singleton said “[there] will be fantastic jobs at the heart of Stripe and with the great talent in the workforce in Northern Ireland, with Queen’s University and Ulster University, there is a great opportunity.”

Another global payments firm looking to take advantage of tech talent in the north and south of the island, PayPal, has set up shop in the town of Dundalk, which sits midway between Dublin and Belfast, about an hour’s drive from each city.

Out of the Dundalk site, PayPal supports InterTrade Ireland’s FUSE programme, a cross-border initiative to provide investment opportunities, support and guidance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Irish FinTech corridor.

“The management team based at PayPal’s site in Dundalk, County Louth, has a wealth of skills that we believe can benefit local small businesses,” PayPal’s Alan McEneaney said at the time. “The FUSE program is designed to connect our leaders with these small businesses, enabling meaningful conversation and skill sharing to help accelerate their growth,” he added.

So, from all indications, the ability for workers to cross freely between north and south is vital to the health of the FinTech ecosystem across Ireland. And while ending the right to work for EU citizens was a significant factor behind Britain’s vote to leave the union, there appears to be little appetite for such restrictions to be placed on residents of the Republic.

See more: Brexit-related frictions increase demand for e-commerce fulfillment and logistics

Also at stake is the future of the devolved government at Stormont, which has been in a state of limbo since the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) boycotted the power-sharing leader in May over its objections to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Earlier this month, the Irish Taoiseach, Mícheál Martin, said a breakthrough in the Northern Ireland Protocol negotiations could pave the way for a restoration of the Stormont government.

Until such a breakthrough comes and Northern Irish politicians are once again able to sit around a table together, the country will continue to lack the political leadership needed for business across Ireland’s FinTech ecosystem to flourish.

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