It's a year this week that Paul Given was removed from the role of Northern Ireland's first minister by his own party leader.

Sir Geoffrey Donaldson promised the move would put maximum pressure on the powers that be to deal with the protocol to the satisfaction of unionists.

Twelve months on and we're still waiting for that breakthrough.

And in the meantime, of course, there's been a political vacuum as the cost of living crisis rages, and problems in health and education here go from bad to worse.

That's not what we're discussing on this week's red lines, but it is the context for what we are going to talk about.

As Stormont continues to sit on ice, what about the 90 MLAs who notionally still represent us and who theoretically continue to serve the interests of their constituents?

What are they actually doing with their time and how optimistic or pessimistic are they about what the future might hold?

I have three MLAs with me today, Diane Forsyth from the DUP, Patricia O'Lynn from

Alliance and Mike Nesbitt from the Ulster Unionist Party. Welcome to all of you. It's lovely to have

politicians sitting around the same table in the same studio. By the way, we did invite Sinn Féin and the

STLP to take part as well. I want to ask you all, first of all, are you, Diane, let me

start with you. Are you frustrated at the situation you find yourself in eight months after the last

Assembly election? Well, it's unfortunate that we are in this position, but we all know why we are.

And as you say, it's a year since our first minister stepped aside because that's what my party felt that we were in the position that we needed to do that to take forward the issues on the protocol.

I wouldn't say that I'm frustrated because I feel that very strongly I have the mandate to stand on the position that we are in.

And there has been progression

and movement which I don't believe would have happened if we hadn't have taken this stance.

But in terms of myself, you know, I am a newly elected MLA from last May and which is different

to the ones who have obviously been returned. But for me and Patricia will be the same. There's a lot of things

that you have to do when you're in new MLA and that includes sourcing office premises, recruiting

staff. There's quite a lot of practical tasks and being new, there's, there is a whole lot of

things to do. And for me, I worked really, really hard immediately after the election,

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