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As news of Brexit broke, tech firms including BT, TalkTalk and software firm Sage reported share price falls. For years, the UK - and particularly London - has championed the role of tech firms in buoying the economy. Hundreds of start-ups have benefitted from the government's Tech City initiative, for example, and both employees and customers have been plucked from EU member states. Much was once made of British companies' potential to compete with Silicon Valley - hence the nickname of the London hub of "Silicon Roundabout". Earlier this year,  the Tech City cluster of businesses reported  that 1.56 million people were employed in digital companies in the UK, with 328,000 of those in London. The report also noted that the digital economy grew a third faster than the UK economy as a whole. But does this success now hang in the balance? "I have concerns that the local market might slow down," said Drew Benvie, founder of London-based digital agency Battenhal...

Google has said there was a dramatic spike in searches for Irish passport applications as news of the UK's decision to leave the EU broke. The overwhelming majority of the searches came from Northern Ireland. The search giant also reported more searches for "what happens if we leave the EU" around midnight on 23 June and for other phrases such as "British independence day" and "Norway EU" . One expert cautioned that the data does not reveal actual volumes of searches. On the financial implications,  Google Trends  said it had recorded the highest-ever search interest in sterling. During the early hours of the morning,  the pound fell by more than 10%  - to a level not seen since 1985 - before slightly rebounding. And there was a spike in searches for "Move to Gibraltar" - from London users - after the EU referendum polls closed. Tobias Preis, at Warwick Business School, cautioned that search data should be interpreted with special care as onl...