evidence: The Northern Ireland Protocol has become the thorniest issue in the new relationship between the UK and the EU. The Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP), signed by the UK and the EU as part of the Withdrawal Agreement in 2020, has become the thorniest issue in the new relationship between the two sides. In the run up to the 2016 referendum there was almost no consideration, let alone discussion, of the implications for the Northern Ireland peace process that a Brexit vote might have. Since 2020 the discussions about Northern Ireland have been endless and often ill-tempered. The failure to resolve the difficulties has poisoned the day-to-day functioning of the UK’s new trading relationship with the EU and effectively blocked any attempts to bring the two sides closer together. This analysis will look at the origins of the current situation (the ‘what’), the specific issue of the Brexit trilemma (the ‘why’), and how matters might be addressed (the ‘how’). [...] Their position has hardened to say that they will not re-join the power-sharing agreement needed to get Stormont (the Northern Ireland Assembly) up and running until the Northern Ireland Protocol is abandoned.