EU trade Commissioner Phil Hogan has said Irish fishermen's continued access to lucrative UK fishing grounds after Brexit will probably be linked to London's efforts to maintain its financial markets' access to Europe.

The Government says Irish vessels being shut out of UK waters could knock one-third of the value off this country's fishery income, totalling losses of €500m a year. Post-Brexit fishery access to UK waters is also being pursued by Spain, France, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Germany and is expected to cause a big political row in the coming weeks.

The new Trade Commissioner, who begins a three-day visit to Washington tomorrow, also said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's talk about replacing EU trade with a major USA-Britain deal is "fairytale economics".

Mr Hogan will meet with the US trade representative Robert Emmet Lighthizer, who is proud of his Irish links via his mother's family who were Bowdens from west Cork.

The two trade leaders will discuss reforming the World Trade Organisation to deal with emerging global trade conflicts like the USA-China clash. Mr Hogan said moves to protectionism must be reversed as every €1bn in exports supports 14,000 jobs.

As preparations continue for talks on a new EU-UK relationship, concerns are being raised about the vexed issue of continued access to UK fishery waters.

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The minister responsible for Irish fisheries, worth €1.5bn a year, Michael Creed, has said fish caught in the UK amounts to one-third of Ireland's catch in terms of price, and especially affects mackerel and prawns.

Mr Creed has said that the issue cannot be dealt with in isolation as World Trade Organisation rules are inadequate. He has suggested the issue must be linked directly to trade talks - especially the UK's efforts to get access to EU financial services.

Mr Hogan has said that the issue is not his direct responsibility, and will be dealt with by EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier. But he acknowledged the prospect of access being linked in this way to the sharp end of EU-UK trade talks.

"There certainly will be trade-offs, particularly at the end of the negotiations. The EU will be seeking concessions on fishery access - and the UK will very probably be seeking concessions on financial services," Mr Hogan told the Irish Independent.

EU-UK talks on a post-Brexit trade deal will dominate the Irish commissioner's work in 2020. But he has insisted it is far from the only challenge.

Irish Independent