This time two months, it'll be all over bar the shouting. May the fifth is the date we're all now turning our attention to, 58 days away to be precise. And that's the day that people here will have an opportunity to pass judgment on our current crop of MLAs and decide if we're going to see big changes to the way the Stormont Assembly looks and feels for the next five years. So on this edition of Red Lines, we're sounding the election claxon

in the company of our political correspondent Jane McCormick,

the Belfast Telegraph's political editor, Suzanne Breen,

and the commentator and deputy editor of Slugger O'Toole Doctor David McCann.

Welcome to all of you.

We're going to focus on the parties primarily in this conversation

and the range of challenges they're likely to face in the run-up to polling day.

But just to ease us into the discussion, Jane, remind us what's at stake in this election.

Where to begin, Mark?

The stakes are so high.

We've got the battle for First Minister, Sinn Féin from the polls, of course, at least appear to be in poll position for that. The issues we know as well that the parties are going to get hit in the doors with ongoing problems around healthcare, the rising cost of living, which is becoming a massive issue. We've still got the fallout of the DUP's turbulence from last year being felt as well.

And that's before you bring in, obviously, the ongoing issues with the protocol.

Voters will get to give their verdict on all of that.

And then there's the bigger question mark about what happens after the election.

How much of a stormant will there to be to come back to and who's prepared to be part of it?

Yeah, Suzanne, unionists believe, of course,

there's an existential threat to their worldview at the moment.

So that is likely to be how those parties try to frame the debate over the next eight weeks.

Yes, it will.

I think both the DUP and Sinn Féin will like there to be some focus on the protocol,

but the other parties will very much be fighting back against that

because they're the losers and they will be trying to talk about the health service, jobs,

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