A new survey shows that 96% of business leaders believe that Brexit's impact on the Irish economy will be negative in the short-term.
The Institute of Directors' quarterly Director Sentiment Monitor said this was an increase from 92% in the second quarter and 89% in the first.
Just 1% of the IoD's survey respondents in Q3 believe Brexit will be positive in the short-term.
The survey also reveals an overwhelming majority of directors and business leaders are in favour of repairing any damage done to Ireland-UK relations by the three-year Brexit process to date.
When asked is they thought that "Ireland needs to actively address improving relations with the UK in a post-Brexit scenario", 89% of business leaders answered "Yes".
Just 6% said "No", while 3% said they did not know and 2 had no opinion.
The survey was conducted amongst IoD members between September 23 and October 1, for the third quarter of 2019.
The IoD survey also found that just 20% of business leaders anticipate opportunities for growth in the UK for 2020, with the domestic market, the EU and the US envisaged as better growth markets.
68% of business leaders also admitted that Brexit uncertainty has impacted their organisation’s strategic planning, up from 63% in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, 60% of the IoD's survey respondents said they were more pessimistic compared with the previous quarter, with just 9% more optimistic.
Maura Quinn, CEO of the Institute of Directors in Ireland, said the latest results highlight that business leaders are concerned about the future Ireland-UK relationship, with nine out of 10 respondents believing relations need to be actively improved.
She said the longer-term implications of a negative relationship could have consequences for future trade and business between the two countries.
"Over the three consecutive quarters this year our surveys have found increasing negative sentiment among business leaders in relation to the impact of Brexit on the Irish economy. Directors and business leaders in Ireland clearly believe this situation needs to be actively addressed," Ms Quinn added.
