WITH the Brexit negotiations now deep into the final period of extra time, it is still by no means certain that a deal on the future relationship between Britain and the European Union will be struck before the clock runs down.
That would be disastrous, and an indictment of a process that has been thrown off course by ill advised - and, in the case of the Internal Market Bill, illegal - interventions on British prime minister Boris Johnson's watch.
With Dominic Cummings, the Brexit provocateur-in-chief, ousted from Downing Street, there are suggestions that Mr Johnson may now be more amenable to reaching a deal.
There is certainly very limited time for the European Parliament and the governments of the EU27 to scrutinise the text of what will inevitably be a highly complex and detailed legal document before the transition period ends on December 31.
The majority of voters in Northern Ireland, of course, rejected the Brexit fantasy, and will be highly dismayed - and worried - that a 'no deal' scenario, with all the chaos and economic harm that would ensure, is still a prospect at this late stage of the process.
The north is uniquely exposed by Brexit; for example, while Britain will leave the EU single market for goods from January 1, Northern Ireland will remain. This essentially establishes a new 'sea border'.
Among the practical implications of this are disruptions in food supplies; items such as meat and dairy products will have to be accompanied by expensive paperwork and checked at new frontier posts at ports including Larne, in DUP MP Sammy Wilson's East Antrim constituency.
This rather emphasises the recklessness of the DUP's enthusiasm for the Brexit project, which included embedding itself in the Vote Leave operation, and the hollowness of its assurances that there would be no so-called Irish Sea border.
The land border has been another source of contention. Simon Coveney, the Republic's minister for foreign affairs, brought some welcome reassurance to this aspect of Brexit when he told this newspaper's political correspondent that if agreement is not reached, the EU would not be imposing checks or building infrastructure on the Irish border.
With some further good will and flexibility, a workable compromise between the EU and Britain should be within reach.
Both should grab it - to do otherwise, particularly amid the coronavirus pandemic, would be unforgivable.
