This is a bit of a red letter edition of Red Lines because after five years of conversation and reflection, this is our 200th episode.

We began way back in September 2019 when the world was a different place in so many ways and we thought we'd use today's discussion to look back on the roller coaster ride that the past five years have been.

We've persuaded a few of our Red Lines regulars to come into the studio in reflective mood,

and they are our political correspondent, Gareth Gordon,

our former political editor Mark Devonport and resident elections guru

and deputy editor of Slugger-Rotul David McCann.

We'll hear from all of them in just a moment after this reminder of some of the issues we've tackled over those five years.

Welcome to Red Lines, the new podcast from BBC Northern Ireland's politics team Stormont hasn't been sitting for nearly three years.

Nobody knows for sure what's happening with Brexit.

In some ways, we are looking into a big black hole and today we are launching our new podcast. Mark, it's either the best of

times or the worst of times to be doing this. Which is it? Well, it means that we can pontificate

our nauseam and nobody will know whether we're right or wrong.

He's a political capybara. You know a capybara? They're like this sort of big, like oversized guinea pig, a very kind of even-tempered animal that seems to get on with everybody.

So it was quite remarkable that you had betel kind of giving Boris Johnson both barrels.

He's the capy barra that bit back. You know, we saw on the horizon this thing going on in Wuhan,

the way that it has, you know, upended all the sort of political shibboloths that we've been living with.

There'll certainly be a lot harder for people like me who don't understand a lot of stuff

that Mark Devenport used to explain to me. I was thinking he's no WD Flex, that's for sure. But do you still feel that it was right

at that time for members of your family and others to engage in violent resistance to British

rule here? I think at the time there was no alternative. Be honest with me here. Would you have

stayed in the party? No. I did think my time in an elected life was possibly coming to an end.

You were also on a stage with Bill Clinton the other day when he described you as the king of BS.

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