They have also, absentmindedly, taken back control of southern Ireland

It is not possible for the Irish Republic to have a economic destiny distinct from the United Kingdom.

The geographic facts insist on this.

Therefore the people of the United Kingdom have not just taken back control of their own country, they have also, absentmindedly, taken back control of southern Ireland.

Of course, anti-English bigots like Fintan O'Toole are spluttering on their bile as they realise this fact.

But unless the EU is going to grant the Irish Republic the modern equivalent of a Berlin airlift, the southern Irish will have to accept the status of a client state.

Possibly a fig-leaf formula will be found where the Irish republic can be simultaneously in the EU and economically subservient to the United Kingdom.

And possibly the same formula can apply to Scotland.

But no-one should be in any doubt over where the economic power will be located.

http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/editorial/irish-times-view-brexit-a-bewildering-act-of-self-harm-1.2698212

http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-brexit-fantasy-is-about-to-come-crashing-down-1.2698974