To say that the Irish reaction to the Brexit referendum result was a surprise is a bit of an understatement.

Sure, we understood that not everyone in the UK was a Europhile, but to leave an enormous trading block in what is and remains a volatile global economic environment was unexpected.

Equally, no one underestimates the challenges and consequences of immigration and freedom of movement, but the UK has a long history, pre-dating the European project, of being open to and quite effectively assimilating immigrants.