the northern ireland protocol is part of the agreement between the uk and the european union. it is critical to ensuring that the spirit promised and future of the good friday agreement is protected. that said, the uk and that you need to work out the specifics and modality on that, they need to find some way to proceed that works both for the eu and the uk. but whatever way they find a proceed, it must at its core fundamentally protect the gains of the good friday agreement and not imperil that. i'm joined now by our political correspondent hellen catt. so complicated but so important. i suppose there must be a trade board to dashboard or somewhere? part suppose there must be a trade board to dashboard or somewhere?- to dashboard or somewhere? part of the issue on — to dashboard or somewhere? part of the issue on brexit _ to dashboard or somewhere? part of the issue on brexit is, _ to dashboard or somewhere? part of the issue on brexit is, where - to dashboard or somewhere? part of the issue on brexit is, where do - to dashboard or somewhere? part of the issue on brexit is, where do you| the issue on brexit is, where do you putit? the issue on brexit is, where do you put it? because of the sensitivities on ireland, all sides decided they didn't want a halt. a hard border