Susan O’Keeffe: Within weeks of Brexit, we face life-or-death consequences

Decades of trust are being wiped away in the row over critical vaccine supplies

‘The one thing that nobody thought would be tossed out in an instant would be those ancient ties, those natural friendships’. Picture: Rollingnews.ie

Friends and neighbours always hope that, whatever their differences, “for old times’ sake” will win out and help smooth ruffled feathers. But in the blink of an eye Brexit has turned that notion entirely on its head. And the EU vaccination programme stands to be the biggest casualty of that fateful UK referendum in the summer of 2016.

The UK is geographically part of Europe and has been central to the continent’s history across centuries. ...