You're listening to a podcast from the BBC World Service. This is Hard Talk with me, Stephen Sacker.

Thanks for downloading this edition of the programme. I do hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Sacker. My guest today may have

regarded the beginning of 2021 with some trepidation. Thomas Byrne is Ireland's

Europe minister. He was intensely aware that at the turn of the year, Britain's exit from the EU

was no longer transitional and that a new economic reality would present enormous challenges

for the UK's nearest neighbour. There are also

difficult questions about the delicate relationship between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland

in this new era. And to compound all of that, Ireland, like many EU nations, is struggling to cope

with the fallout from the COVID pandemic.

Hospitals are under pressure, and the EU-coordinated vaccine rollout got off to a slow start,

certainly much slower than in Brexit Britain.

And that has raised a host of awkward questions about the cohesion, capacity and competence of the European Union.

Well, Thomas Byrne joins me now on the line from Dublin.

Welcome to Hard Talk.

Thank you, Stephen.

You disappointed in the markedly slow rollout of the vaccine in so many member states of the European Union, including your own?

Well, I think the rollout of the vaccine in the European Union certainly has been a bit slower

than some other countries. Yes, you could compare it to Britain. But I think everybody's experiences

of the pandemic are different. And indeed, there's lots of different league tables that I don't particularly want to go into,

where someone is best, someone is worse.

And I think the vaccine rollout is at the very, very early stages.

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