The shocking attack on businessman Kevin Lunney is a grim reminder of the savagery that lurks not too far from the surface in the Border region.

It also underlines the folly of dismantling the policing structures that stood the test, when they were properly resourced, throughout the three decades of what is known as the Troubles.

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The massive re-organisation of the Garda, announced last month, is now affecting the force at a time when dissident republican violence is again undergoing a sinister upward surge and the country remains in the dark about Brexit.

A week ago, Commissioner Drew Harris and Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan indicated they were not for turning on their grand plan.

Mr Harris also swept aside questions from his chief superintendents on the finer details of the most radical structural changes in the force for half a century.

Yesterday, Mr Harris acknowledged for the first time that the timing was not right for re-organising the Border region.

He said he would delay his plans to reduce the number of divisions from four to two until the uncertainty around Brexit had been sorted out.

The commissioner also referred to the increase in dissident republican activity in 2019, a trend which his senior advisers had predicted at the start of the year, as groups such as the New IRA strive to exploit that Brexit uncertainty.

Excellent cross-border co-operation between the Garda and the PSNI will continue and will be demonstrated again in the investigation into the assault on Mr Lunney and previous attacks on other Quinn Industrial Holdings targets.

The two forces are hoping to use a European extradition warrant (EAW) to bring criminal charges against the prime suspect for another assault on Mr Lunney last February. He suffered a broken nose after he was struck in a service station in Co Cavan.

However, the EAW is one of the ‘weapons’ that will fall by the wayside whenever the UK pulls out of the EU and co-operation in bringing suspects before the courts in cases with a cross-border dimension will be dependent on much more cumbersome extradition processes.

A heightened threat from the New IRA, with its increased focus on killing police officers, as well as the re-emergence of the Continuity IRA, has also made the area around the Co Fermanagh border a more hostile environment for the PSNI and a difficult area for its officers to police.

The attempt by the Continuity IRA to lure PSNI personnel and British Army bomb disposal officers into an ambush as they dealt with a bomb near the Cavan-Fermanagh border at Wattlebridge last month, has underlined the grave dangers they face when they carry out their duties.

Against that background, any changes that could stretch Garda resources further in the Border region cannot be welcomed.

Only two Garda armed support units (ASUs) now operate in the region, based in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, and Dundalk, Co Louth.

Last Christmas, gardaí were confident they would be able to fill the yawning gap in the middle by setting up a third ASU, located in Cavan, in the early part of 2019. Mr Harris did indicate yesterday that about 30 gardaí for the new Cavan ASU had now been trained.

But until it becomes active, local personnel are dependent on the temporary support of Special Branch patrols being sent up to the Border on daily shifts to fill the gaps.

Garda strength in the northern region is around 1,500 gardaí, with 56 reservists and 150 civilian staff.

There are now more than 150 extra gardaí deployed in the Border divisions compared to the end of 2017, according to official figures.

However, the terrorist activity and the potential fall-out from Brexit – a scenario that has prompted the PSNI to seek another 800 officers after being granted a boost of 300 last year – suggests that the Government should be focusing more on increasing Garda resources on this side of the Border instead of curtailing operational budgets.

The Garda Commissioner might also look again at relocating the headquarters for the northern region to Galway – a long distance from the Border.

And he could also ponder the additional headaches of creating super divisions such as the merger of Donegal with Sligo-Leitrim.

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