Brexit: what are some of the long-term consequences?

Finally, there is the problem of Northern Ireland. There is now fear about the revival of the "Troubles" (the violence that ran from the 1960s to the 1998 Good Friday peace deal). The Northern Ireland/ Irish Republic had more border crossings than all of the EU's eastern border with the Russian zone.

In 1973 UK and Irish Republic both entered EU together. There has been some integration of the economies. With the 1998 peace agreement's disappearance of the border, a person can drive from one country into another and hardly be aware of being in a different country. The Republic has done well out of its EU membership and so will stay in the EU, while the UK is leaving.

The Republic/ NI border will now become the western end of the EU. Will the custom posts need to be reintroduced to stop smuggling? Will the posts become a target for renewed violence? Will the EU (despite Irish protestations) be obliged to treat the Republic (once again) as administratively part of the UK (as it was treated before the 1973 entry into EU)?

Or could the EU border be drawn along the west coast of England and Scotland and so put Northern Ireland by default into the Republic? This would "unify" the island of Ireland but not in a way acceptable to NI Democratic Unionist Party.

To sum up, if the UK does leave the UK, the exit will have major consequences.