This is an extension of the Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Northern Ireland's First Minister Paul Givan has said he intends to announce his resignation. The facts of that in terms of timing remain unclear.

This means that his Sinn Féin counterpart Michelle O'Neill will also have to step down as Deputy First Minister.

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Under the complicated power-sharing agreement at the Northern Ireland government, Stormont, the two opposing parties, one protestant and one catholic, one Unionist and one Republican, must mirror each other politically.

It's a joint office.

There are protocols for new candidates, but it takes time, and elections are coming up in May.

There's also a three-year budget going through Stormont that will be put on hold.

The DUP has consistently been unhappy with the arrangement made between London and Brussels over Northern Ireland's status post Brexit.

The party has already put Brussels on notice for February 21 as a deadline for resolution.

And it announced yesterday that all checks on farm and food products arriving from the UK would no longer be checked as they should be under the protocol.

The Northern Ireland Protocol is the most contentious part of the Brexit settlement.

It was agreed between Westminster under UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the EU in Brussels.

To protect the single market between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to the south, it was decided that goods crossing the North Sea between the UK and Northern Ireland would be subject to border control and customs checks.

The DUP has always felt that this creates an unacceptable distance between two parts of the UK.

And that it plays into the hands of those that want to ultimately see the two parts of Ireland reunited.

Negotiations between the two sides continue regularly but without much progress so far.

Critics of the DUP position say they threaten to destabilize the political status quo in Northern Ireland without doing anything to resolve the protocol.