Things will never be the same again.
That was the unnerving message that Taoiseach Micheál Martin delivered to his party colleagues last night.
Even before Donald Trump revealed his radical economic plan in Washington, its outline had been worryingly sketched out in a room in Leinster House.
The Taoiseach was able to tell his party's TDs and Senators that a broad 20% tariff would soon sweep across the Atlantic.
The Fianna Fáil leader flagged specific tariffs for things like pharmaceuticals, that precious sector on which so much of the country’s economic strength is anchored.
Even if the Trump White House is characterised by volatility and constant change, the Taoiseach warned that the impact of this tariff decision would not be a fleeting thing.
He spoke of these decisions hanging over the Irish economy for quite some time even as the Government and the EU worked flat out to forge a strategic response.
His solemn words were met with something that is rare indeed at parliamentary party meetings, absolute silence.
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As TDs left the room to go and vote on more mundane matters in the Dáil chamber the mood was pockmarked with both nervousness and gloom.
There was none of that sporadic bleak hilarity that can sometimes pervade the halls of the national parliament even at a time of crisis.
The moment may have been well anticipated, but it was no less wounding for that.
When the crafted statements from Government emerged late last night much hope was placed on the EU beginning a dialogue with the US and avoiding a confrontation.
This could ultimately see the country weather the storm, the Taoiseach believes.
But even when the gale has abated the economic landscape will be fundamentally altered.
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