The new political term kicked off at a hectic pace back in September,

and that was picking up from an unprecedented period of upheaval,

not least for the DUP, which managed to go through three leaders in just four weeks.

So on this week's red lines, we decided to mark the midterm break

with a bit of a stock take in the company of three people.

Well, across the details of the ins and outs of the political landscape here. Sam,

sum up the past couple of months for us. Well, I think, Mark, it's been uncharacteristically quiet.

We've had about five or six years of seemingly non-stop politics in Northern Ireland,

where everything is constantly a crisis or on the verge of a crisis.

And certainly in the context of that, I think this has been a relatively quiet period.

So the big thing I think which has dominated the last couple of months has on one level

being the ongoing debate about the NI protocol and the evidence that there's significant movement

there, albeit it's not entirely clear where that's going. But I think in in terms of local

politics and what the parties are really focused on right now, I think that big poll at the end of

August, which had the DUP in third place within the unionist parties, not even third place overall, so far off the pace

with Sinn Féin that it's now widely anticipated that there will be a Sinn Féin First Minister

next year. It's really an argument about who comes second. I think that has been the thing

that has really driven politics, and that has been what has particularly driven Sir Geoffrey Donaldson and some of his choices

over the last couple of months.

Mary, what stands out for you?

Well, I think it was actually the small stuff.

Because the big picture, you know, wasn't changing anything in any significant way.

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