That was the stark reality laid bare in a report last week from the Department of the Economy which stated 40,000 jobs were at risk across the North if there is a no deal Brexit. 

By that reckoning Fermanagh would lose at least 2,000 jobs and probably considerably more because of our proximity to the border and reliance on agriculture.

With the likely selection of Boris Johnston, who has vowed to leave the EU on October 31st whatever the circumstances, as prime minister a no deal scenario is becoming increasingly likely. 

Given the fact a no deal Brexit will happen overnight, the Department’s report frankly states that there is nothing that can be done to prevent the harm it will wreck on the economy here as “all the changes will happen at once.” The report warns unemployment will soar, exports will plummet, businesses will fold, and there is very little can be done about it.  

The report states the agri-food sector would be particularly badly hit. Over all, it stressed the consequences of the now-likely no deal Brexit will be “profound and long-lasting.” 

Fermanagh farmer and Brexit campaigner John Sheridan, whose farm straddles the border said the dangers of a no deal have become greater than ever, and if it happens, it the local economy will be devastated. He said the situation will “snowball.” 

There are 40,000 jobs at risk in the North, and more in the South, and already there are people relying on foodbanks and scraping to make a living,” he said. “A lot of us are going to be in the same boat. 

“It may be different for people who have retired, and maybe people in the financial sector whose jobs are moveable, but for the ordinary guy depending on his job in a processing factory, haulage, farming, or any exporting business, is in big trouble. The knock-on effect, the snowball effect as more jobs go, is scary. But sure we’ve said that all the time.”