Boris Johnson raised some interesting issues in his piece for the Belfast Telegraph at the start of this week,

not least the line about Northern Ireland, always having been a place in its own right, as he put it.

He talked about how the governance of this place has been contested, broken, reimagined and carefully nurtured,

and how those arrangements continue to evolve.

And he urged readers to embrace that hybridity.

So is that an argument that's likely to worsen the headache for unionists

who fear their umbilical link to Britain is under greater threat than ever before?

Or can modern 21st century unionism produce the necessary flex

to live with whatever arrangement, the

ongoing protocol negotiations throw up as their ultimate landing spot. Pete, what do you make of

the Prime Minister's contribution? Well, I don't think this is something that would have been

written six or seven weeks ago. I think there's a reality that's starting to land in Downing Street.

The reality is, of course, the protocol illustrates that Brexit has been a disaster

because Northern Ireland is still export oriented, especially to the single European market.

I think also there's a realisation now with a lot of pressure from British industry

that if they don't resolve the protocol

and if they reject the protocol, you'll end up with Britain being out of the withdrawal

agreement with Europe and effectively you will really undermine the British economy.

Suzanne?

I don't think there's too much that will worry unionists. I think they're

concerned about what Boris Johnston does, not what he says. And he was being very nice about

Sinn Féin. He also referenced the Alliance Party and the tough time that it had had and come

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