Northern farmers ‘hardest hit’ by Brexit fallout

Northern Irish farmers will be the hardest hit by the Brexit fallout given the agriculture sector’s dependence on EU customers and the potential loss of billions of euro in grants, according to a leading economist.

Professor Michael Curran, an economist at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, said that while the UK’s decision to leave the EU was “unambiguously bad” for Ireland and the UK as a whole, Northern Ireland would be hardest hit.

In particular, Northern Irish farmers who count on the EU for more than 80% of their income would feel the brunt of the fallout, he said.