After months of discussion and debate, the historic EU referendum is now over and according to experts, it could be a close call between leaving the EU and remaining.

There were large numbers at polling stations in Enniskillen and Ballinamallard this afternoon and many more people are expected to cast their vote before the polls close at 10pm.

In Enniskillen, community worker Eileen Drumm said she was voting to remain in the EU “to stand up for disabled people.”

“It is very important that we stay in Europe because the rights of disabled people will be destroyed if we go out as will our human rights. That's my big concern. It is very hard to say what way it will go, but I am hoping that people will stay in.

“It has been a very dirty campaign because the people who want to go out are fighting every way they can. I am crossing my fingers and hoping that people will vote remain,” she said.

Blane Bailey from Blaney told impartialreporter.com that exiting Europe would “have no effect on the Border at all.”

“I think there will be continued good relations in terms of business and those wishing to spend the euro here in Northern Ireland. Personally for me, it's a matter of sovereignty and the fact that the nation of Britain can stand well on its own two feet without the debt that comes from Europe.”

Jim Ledwith from Lisbellaw described the referendum as “a crucial moment in the journey of the European Union.”

“The last thing I want to see are potential Border patrols coming back again. Right here, where we are, we are only 10 miles from a Border that has been invisible for the last number of years since the peace process. I don't want to see a physical, economic Border coming back.

“Today is about testing public opinion and there's no better way to test pupil opinion than in a referendum. Everyone has got a vote. A Brexit would be like going backwards, not forwards.”

Farmer and butcher Andrew Burleigh from Florencecourt said he hoped today would be “defining.”

“There have been a few significant days this week. First, Michael McGovern kept us in the Euros, now I am hoping that the UK will pull out of Europe. The bureaucracy of it all is tying us up in shackles. The waste of our money in Europe is unreal.

“I feel I have voted for my destiny, voted for our own country to rule us. But I have a strong inkling that it is going to be a very close call,” he said.

“This is the most important decision that this country can make,” said Anita Flanagan from the Border village of Garrison.

“If I was to throw a ball outside my back door I would probably hit the south, that's how close I am to the Border. This is a very concerning day, personally for me. My partner works in the south and travels from Fermanagh each day so if this happens and there are Border controls it is going to be a problem.

“For a lot of us down here, it is easier to get to Ballyshannon in Donegal than Enniskillen in Fermanagh. The local economy benefits a lot from the Border area. Someone said to me earlier that there was no point in voting today. That's wrong. This is the most important decision that this country can make and the biggest one in my lifetime,” he said.

“The devil you know is better than the devil you don't know,” said hotelier Joe Mahon as he made his way to the polling station in his home town of Irvinestown.

“If we leave there is going to have to be some sort of control on the Border. That's not based on scare tactics, I believe that is the case and I have heard scare tactics on both sides. I don't know what way the whole thing will go. Half of people here are staying in, half are looking out,” he said.