The Northern Ireland protocol has been a point of contention ever since it was implemented. Credit: PA The UK and EU are set for crunch talks with Northern Ireland's leaders over mounting tensions that have led to threats of violence around the post-Brexit Irish Sea trade arrangements. First Minister Arlene Foster and senior Democratic Union Party colleagues held discussions with Prime Minister Boris Johnson ahead of the discussions with the EU. Downing Street said they discussed the decision by the EU last Friday to threatened to stop vaccine exports into Northern Ireland, which they later backtracked on. A spokesperson said: "The Prime Minister said that we needed urgent action from the EU to resolve outstanding problems with Protocol implementation, so as to preserve the gains of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and to ensure that Northern Ireland benefits in full from the UK’s exit from the EU."