evidence: Uncertainty remains, however, as to what form the new Assembly will take after the DUP collapsed the Stormont Executive in February in protest over the Northern Ireland protocol, which has effectively created a post-Brexit border in the Irish Sea. [...] Ten members of the Assembly also form its Executive – taking decisions on "significant and controversial" issues and on legislation proposed by ministers. [...] However, if an agreement is reached – or the polls get it wrong and DUP win the election – it appears highly unlikely there will be a sitting Assembly after polling day as DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has made it clear he his party will not go back into the Executive while outstanding issues around the protocol remain unresolved.