Independent councillor Sorcha McAnespy uses one word to describe the defeat inflicted on Theresa May’s Brexit deal on Tuesday night: “catastrophic”.

Mrs. May’s plan was defeated because of the so-called backstop to keep the Border free of checkpoints in a deal, which anti-EU members of May’s Tory Party fear would permanently trap the United Kingdom in the bloc’s customs union.

“The oxymoronic thing about this is that all sides have indicated that they do not want a hard Border, but we are as far as ever from a workable solution,” said Councillor McAnespy.

She sums up the growing nervousness on the island of Ireland about the unfolding Brexit drama in London. For some, concern is mounting that the EU’s strategy, shaped by Ireland, could ultimately force the UK into exiting the bloc without a deal, something that would likely lead to a return of Border infrastructure and huge disruption to the vast trade flowing between the U.K. and Ireland.

Dessie McKenzie runs a pub in the rural village of Boho and says the issue of the Border is now even more delicate in the wake of Tuesday night’s drama at Westminster.

“The DUP position is also a perilous one,” said Mr. McKenzie. “If there is a general election the DUP are out of business at Westminster.”

Councillor Bernice Swift said the defeat came as “no surprise”.

“I have no confidence in any British prime minister making decisions for the future of those of us living in the contested part of Ireland surrounded by a British border.

“Brexit has provided an opportunity for no border in Ireland and unified people who may have not have naturally ever thought about a United Ireland before as a sensible move. One thing is clear, the times they are a changing and anything is possible,” she said.

But not everybody is siding with the European Union.

“Europe I feel has to take notice and play their part also if they really want a deal to succeed,” said Alastair Patterson, a member of the DUP and former Ulster Unionist MLA.

“No compromise from Europe will also be a major failure on their part as well,” he said.

For now, there’s little sign Ireland is preparing to change course. On Tuesday, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said it’s “time to hold our nerve”.

At least two reasons underpin the government’s gamble. First, diluting the backstop would risk shattering the political consensus which has underpinned its strategy, potentially unleashing forces that could even lead to the end of Leo Varadkar’s minority administration.

Councillor McAnespy dreads the prospect of a return to Border infrastructure. “Having lived through 20 years of a hard Border and the subsequent 20 years without, I can feel the collective psyche of Northern Irish people being attacked.

“Quite frankly, we have been through enough turmoil,” she said.