The Irish government will demand hundreds of millions of euros in emergency aid from Brussels if there is a no-deal Brexit.

Dublin has told European Commission officials it will apply for the cash to mitigate the impact of no deal on its beef, dairy and fishing sectors, the Irish Independent reported on Thursday.

“You’re looking at hundreds of millions here. Between the beef industry and the fishing industry we’re talking mega-money,” said Michael Creed, the agriculture minister.

Mr Creed told the Irish independent that drops in the value of sterling because of uncertainty around Brexit had hit the Irish food sector, which is highly dependent on the British market.

"A hard Brexit would make that look like a teddy bears' picnic," he said.

Ireland is the EU country apart from the UK which is most exposed to the economic risk of a no-deal Brexit. Britain takes half of annual Irish beef exports and 80,000 tonnes of cheddar a year, and one-third of the fish in value terms caught by Irish boats comes from UK waters.

The EU is infamous for its Common Agricultural Policy, a complex and inefficient web of agricultural subsidies and grants, which is worth billions of euros every year. It also has funds to aid the agricultural sector in emergency situations, which it has deployed in the past.