On the British-Irish border, Brexit breeds fear and uncertainty

On Britain's only land frontier with a fellow EU state, the talk is about shopping for bargains as the Brexit crisis drives the pound down -- but worries for the future are never far away.

When the United Kingdom quits the European Union, the shutters could come down once more between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, some residents fear.

If so, this would reverse decades in which controls on the 500-kilometre (310-mile) border progressively disappeared -- and trade, movement and friendships flourished as a result.

One big worry is the prospect of the return of customs controls abolished in 1993.

Out shopping in Dundalk, on the republic's side of the border, Paul McDonagh, 37, said there could be a return to cross-border contraband that was once synonymous with the area.

"We could be going back to smuggling butter again across the border," he said.

Around 4,500 people around Dundalk and Newry, a town just over the border in the UK's Northern Ireland, cross back and forward to work every day, according to local estimates.

"Can you imagine the disruption it could cause if they were stuck behind a line of traffic at a customs barrier?" said Paddy Malone, who runs an accountancy practice in Dundalk.

For shops along the border, Britain's vote to leave the EU has had an immediate adverse effect -- customers on the republic's side are heading north to take advantage of sterling's decline.

"Uncertainty is always bad for businesses and towns south of the border would obviously suffer if sterling continues to fall," said Shane McArdle, a 19-year-old resident of Dundalk.

Conversely, businesses 10 minutes' drive away on the northern side have seen an uptick. The pound dropped to a two-year low against the euro on Monday.

"There were more people than usual paying with euros," said Jamie McAteer, an 18-year-old student who works part-time in the high-end Belleek household goods store in Newry.

The euro-sterling exchange rate can mean the difference between business success and failure, such is the porous nature of the market in this area and the close proximity of the two main towns.

Many residents remember the situation a few years ago when the euro also rose sharply against the pound and Dundalk became a virtual ghost town.

Jenny Browne, 36, a store assistant at Diamonds Jewellers in Dundalk, said: "If we were that wee bit further away from the border it would help us an awful lot.

"It is much more difficult for someone to go over the border from Dublin whereas here it would take you 10 minutes.

- A 'hard' border? -

Some commentators say that a return to the "hard" border of the 1970s and 80s could be so traumatic for Northern Ireland that it could push the British province towards reunification with the south.

McAteer, in Newry, was among those who reflected on how his life could be turned upside-down by what had happened on June 23 2016.

He said he had voted to stay in the EU -- and was now considering applying for an Irish passport.

"I am hoping to study Spanish, but I don't know that I would qualify for the Erasmus European student exchange programme that would allow me to study in Spain if I am not an EU citizen," he said.