In the aftermath of Brexit, many in Newry still in shock

It wasn’t immigration. Nor was it sovereignty or a bloated European bureaucracy.

According to two churchgoers leaving morning Mass in Newry yesterday, Brexit was preordained and merely the latest manifestation of the sufferings mounting upon mankind.

“I voted out, because it was prophesied,” said an elderly woman, who declined to give her name, leaving Newry Cathedral.

“Our Lady, at Fatima…all Our Lady’s prophecies in Fatima weren’t for the time she appeared, they were for now.”

The woman and another Mass-goer were both sheltering from the dreary summer rain under umbrellas. Her companion was equally sure Britain leaving the European Union had been foretold.

“People say whether it went this way or whether it went that way,” said Denise. Declining to give her surname, she added: “In time you will know my second name”. She did not vote in last week’s referendum but confirmed she is from Newry.

‘Scriptures being fulfilled’

“This was coming anyway. Hardships, you see what is happening in the world. Scriptures are being fulfilled. I didn’t vote. I don’t think there is anybody yet worth voting for.

“Our Lady of Fatima’s messages are being fulfilled. People will be fighting for the last loaf on the shelf and that is how bad this is going to get.”

Newry was often cast during the referendum campaign as one of the places with most to lose from Brexit on account of its location close to the land Border between the EU and the UK. Campaigners for Britain to remain in the EU said a vote for Brexit would raise the prospect of customs checks between the town and the Border.

The majority of people canvassed by The Irish Times in the days before the referendum were nervous about a possible withdrawal from the EU but still believed it would not happen. Now, in the aftermath of the vote, many are still shocked by the outcome.

In her shop selling children's clothes and nursery items, Fiona Toner said she "never thought for a minute" Brexit would become a reality.

“I watched during the night and everything and thought, ‘No, by the morning, wait until you see; it’ll have swung the other way’. I didn’t see it coming at all.”

"I was disgusted," said Danny Hughes. "People who voted leave didn't see the big picture. They were very selfish and narrow-minded.

"They didn't think of the children and the young ones coming on ahead. Their education, their travel in Europe, they just thought of themselves. 'We've got our England back!' Little Englanders, what good does it do them?

‘Jobs in jeopardy’

“Here in Newry, we depend a lot on cross-Border initiatives. I have family who work in cross-Border bodies administering funds from Europe into the Border counties. Their jobs are in jeopardy. The people who voted leave were conned.”

Possible short term gains from increased cross-Border shopping due to the collapse in sterling are of little comfort.

Declan McChesney runs Cahill Brothers Shoes, established 1894, on Hill Street, and also operates as an agent for shoes, mostly buying from Europe and selling across Ireland.

A campaigner for the Remain side, he says the result is an absolute disaster.

“It is going to be a struggle to survive in the hardened times. In my agency I’m taking my samples in from Europe. I am going to have to clear them through customs so I’m going to have to spend however long and however costly it is to bring my samples in to sell in the North of Ireland. I must then turn around, export them again to sell in the South of Ireland.”

Postman Anthony Morgan, doing his morning rounds, says he believes people have not fully thought through the consequences of leaving the EU.

“People thought immigration was going to be an issue, but we have Merkel now saying that if we want to be in the European market the movement of people will be one of the issues.

“Then you have the issue of the Border and are we going to have checkpoints.”

He accuses the Brexit side of “crawling back from things like the health service going to get £350 million”.

Both Morgan and McChesney believe the decision to leave may be reversed, either through a general election or a repeat referendum. McChesney calls it his “St Jude hope”.

Most people dismiss the Sinn Féin push for a Border poll, which is based on a majority in Northern Ireland voting to remain in the EU, as either premature or a stunt.

For 23-year-old Kathy Ann Murphy, however, the idea has some merit.

"I think they should have it. Just to see the result. I don't think Ireland can afford to have another load of debt on top of it - Scotland and Northern Ireland should join up and see what happens. I think it does (bring a poll closer) but they are probably just taking the opportunity while they have it."

Not everyone upset

Not everyone is upset about Brexit, however. David Dixon from Bangor, unloading kegs of beer at the Catholic Workingmen's Club, says "something had to change".

“There were too many poor countries not giving in but taking out. I think it will level out eventually.”

Butcher Brian McElroy, one of the few business owners in Newry who favoured leaving the EU, acknowledges there is “an awful lot of anger” from people in the town who voted to remain in the EU.

That is a lot of people. The returns from the Newry and Armagh and South Down constituencies, which host Newry and its environs, posted Remain votes of 63 per cent and 67 per cent respectively.

But McElroy, an SDLP voter, believes the anger - along with the political, constitutional and economic turmoil unleashed by Brexit - will eventually calm.

“Nothing that is new can move forward without some wee bit of anguish. But I think in five or six years they’ll look back and say it was a good thing.”