Brexit: Northern frights in the offing

Uncertainty reigns north of the border, as its inhabitants try to get to grips with the new post-Brexit reality

Northern Ireland fans cheer on their team at a Euro 2016 fanzone in Belfast last weekend but they are facing into a murky economic futurePA

The European Commission office in Belfast is located on Dublin Road, beside a derelict building that the yellow tarpaulin promises will be a “new landmark hotel” for the city. The surrounding streets are full of diverse bars and pubs, restaurants and Italian coffee shops. The magnificent Titanic Quarter and regenerated docklands are just a couple of miles away.

This is not Belfast in its entirety, of course: the west of the city is ...