After 17 years, Schiele & McDonald Mushrooms closed its doors on 31 August 2016, not even three months after the British vote to leave the EU on 23 June.

With the closure came the loss of 70 jobs. Before the Brexit vote, the company was exporting 90% of its 35t weekly output to the UK. The rest went to Irish wholesalers.

Back when the vote was but a distant speck on the horizon, McDonald negotiated contracts with UK retailers at an exchange rate of 72.5p to €1. Knowing that the vote was coming, McDonald signed the contract up until the end of August 2016, hoping that the company would be able to weather whatever came after the vote for that short length of time.

The industry is facing a big trial and mushroom businesses really need to sit down and consider the challenges that lie ahead

By August, however, sterling was 86p to €1 and McDonald Mushrooms was losing up to €10,000 per week.

“We just knew based on our cashflow projections that we wouldn’t be able to stay above water with the exchange rate at what it was. And even if we were to try, there were just too many unknowns ahead,” says Peter McDonald.

Schiele & McDonald Mushrooms was a great source of employment for the local area.

The compost for the mushrooms was manufactured from straw purchased from arable farmers, the packaging was made locally and the workers were local.

“It is very sad to see what has been going on,” says McDonald. “The industry is facing a big trial and mushroom businesses really need to sit down and consider the challenges that lie ahead.”

Listen to an interview with Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Andrew Doyle at the rencent Organic Awards, in which he also discussed difficulties in the mushroom industry:

Listen to "Minister Doyle on organics and the plight of the mushroom industry" on Spreaker.

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Mushroom industry 'in crisis' but confident it can weather the storm