In all areas, the UK continues to backtrack.

The European Union argues that we should be subject to rules of the club that we have left.

The precondition is the level playing field.

We can deliver a real Brexit that achieves our objectives.

But if there is not a deal, we still need the Irish Protocol or the Northern Irish protocol fully implemented.

I'm going to miss being the pantomime villain.

Hello and welcome to Brexit Republic, RTE's podcast on Brexit.

I'm Tony Connolly, RTE's Europe editor in Brussels.

I'm Sean Wheeler, RTE's correspondent in London.

And I'm Colom O'Mongown, RTE's Deputy Foreign Editor in Dublin. Each week, Brexit Republic assesses all the latest Brexit developments in Brussels,

London and Dublin. This week, David Frost returns to Brussels for a reset in relations with the EU

following days of rioting in Northern Ireland. we'll explore what he and his EU opposite number

Mara O'Shefchewicz had for dinner and why food is now at the centre of efforts to fix the

Northern Ireland protocol.

And with talk growing of a thaw in relations, Simon Kovny came to London this week to build

bridges, but not necessarily the kind that Boris Johnson has in mind. And as the EU's

vaccine rollout starts to gain momentum, we look at the ongoing trade implications of vaccine

nationalism. And we'll hear later from Maroshevich himself, but first to both of you, in fact,

since we've recorded our last episode on the 26th of March, it's been a busy time in Northern Ireland with mostly loyalist youths taking to the streets

and there was plenty of stone throwing and clashes.

And as with all of these things, whether people like it or not,

these kind of scenes do focus the mind.

...