The Republic could benefit in the long term from exiting the euro, a leading investment commentator argued yesterday.

Author and Financial Times columnist Jonathan Davis told a business breakfast organised by investment firm Smith Williamson yesterday that “some fragmentation” of the euro zone is still possible. “There is still a risk that the euro zone will not survive in its current form,” he told the gathering in Dublin.

He argued that while European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has said the bank will do everything possible to save the euro, that does not rule out some countries leaving. “Things could probably be worse in the short term and better in the long term if you were out of it as that could bring considerable competitive advantages,” he said.