If the UK exits the European Union without a trade deal by the year-end, the new tariffs on goods would hit Ireland's agricultural and food sectors the most, Makhlouf told FT.

It will knock two percentage points off the country's economic growth in 2021, he said. 

Makhlouf also predicted that in the longer term, London's dominant position in Europe's financial services sector will likely shift slowly to Dublin, Frankfurt, Paris or Amsterdam.

(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)