‘Optimism bias’ fading in North as reality bites

A no-deal Brexit will be catastrophic for the North, where 40,000 jobs are likely to be lost, but neither Johnson nor Hunt appear to be concerned

Firms like pharma companies are moving south to the Republic to secure their supply chains

Last month, Stephen Kelly spent time travelling around Derry with members of the British parliament’s Alternative Arrangements Commission.

The idea was to get across to the group – which has a number of hardline Brexiteers as members – just how difficult it would be to come up with a viable alternative to the backstop.

A month on, and at the end of a week when the Irish government conceded that some form of ...