It's a big week for the protocol, and it's not a straightforward story to explain,

but it's not the first complex issue relating to Northern Ireland that journalists have had to grapple with.

Many people find the politics of this place impenetrable and bewildering in equal measure and have done for years.

But why is it so difficult, apparently, to report on Northern Ireland for a GB audience?

Mark, you did it for years.

Do you still have nightmares about it?

Too right.

The start of my career coincided with the start of power sharing,

so I had to explain the De Haunt principle live on air on what was not the BBC News channel,

but older listeners will remember BBC News 24.

I can't even remember what I said, but it was awful.

Thank goodness there was no social media in those days.

Alva, you're from here.

You're now based in London.

Do you despair sometimes that some of your colleagues take on this place?

Yeah, I have to admit I do sometimes.

And I'm still quite new to Westminster journalism.

And as you say, I'm from Belfast.

And I do, I get these confessional moments sometimes from Westminster journalists

who tell me that they find it quite bewildering.

And that actually it's not that they're not interested in Northern Ireland,

but they're just absolutely terrified that given the complexity, the politics of the place,

...