We've brought Red Lines out of the studio this week to the Duncern Arts and Culture Centre in North Belfast,

and we're here to take the political temperature after what has been another madly busy 12 months

in the political life of Northern Ireland. We've had an assembly election that saw the tectonic plate

shifting. We've seen the protocol grow in significance as a political issue, whether we like it or not.

We've watched a Prime Minister under constant pressure in his job. We've seen the protocol grow in significance as a political issue, whether we like it or not. We've watched a Prime Minister under constant pressure in his job.

We've witnessed a cost of living crisis, far worse than anything experienced in many years.

We've watched a major conflict erupt on European soil, and all along we've grappled with the twists and turns of a global pandemic.

So those are the issues we'll be touching on in this conversation. All along, we've grappled with the twists and turns of a global pandemic.

So those are the issues we'll be touching on in this conversation and joining me to reflect on where we are and how far we've come in the past year

our four firm friends of this podcast.

Professor Deirdre Heenan from Ulster University,

Suzanne Breen, the political editor of the Belfast Telegraph,

Sam McBride, Northern Ireland editor of the Sunday Independent,

and the columnist and commentator Newton Emerson.

Welcome to all of you.

Let's talk about the assembly election, first of all.

Good for Sinn Féin, better for the DUP than many people had been expecting,

very good for alliance, and not great for the

Ulster Unionists, SDLP, TUV and Green Sam. That's a very good summary. I'm not sure you need

me to say much more there, but I think that when you get beyond those individual party breakdowns

and you look at it in broader terms, in designation terms, a great election for the others, for those centrist

parties, actually party now, the Alliance Party of Naomi Long. And I think also a very significant

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