Dr. Kieran McQuinn:

At an aggregate level, looking at the results it is clear that both exports and imports are significantly impacted. To a certain extent that can mitigate the overall impact on GDP. If the exports come down the GDP will be dragged down, but if imports go down it will keep the GDP reasonably high. There is an offset there, but it is more within the granular level in terms of sectors of the economy affected. As Dr. Bergin noted, most exporting SMEs trade with the UK. The agrifood sector, the food processing sector and the tourism sector will be affected but there are significant regional differences in terms of the reliance of the economy of those sectors. That is where the real story lies, in many ways.