Brexit poses huge challenges for Ireland

Northern Ireland's economy has been sluggish for years, with a quality of life that's lower than the rest of the United Kingdom. That's why many young people are leaving.

Is the United Kingdom better off without Europe? Did the country make a risky choice by leaving the EU one year ago? Our reporters Jonathan Walsh and Clovis Casali crossed the Channel to understand the consequences of Brexit on the daily lives of citizens. From London to Belfast, via Boston – the town with the highest pro-Brexit vote in 2016 – they report on how the UK has changed.

It's a year since Britain's PM, Boris Johnson, confidently led his nation over the precipice for what was popularly dubbed a hard Brexit.

Just over a year after Brexit became a practical reality, the Northern Ireland Assembly is in crisis after its First Minister resigned in protest at the Northern Ireland Protocol of the Brexit deal. Ireland's Europe Minister Thomas Byrne tells FRANCE 24 the departure of Paul Givan "has caused deep difficulties within the government system in Northern Ireland", and that the situation is "very very worrying".

Northern Ireland voters go to the polls today (May 5) in what could be the most important election in a generation. They will elect the 90 members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, from which a power-sharing executive should be formed. These institutions were created by the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement. According to opinion polls, Sinn Fein - representing mostly people of Catholic and Irish background - could become the largest party for the first time.

The British prime minister has faced calls to step down after breaking COVID lockdown rules. In Northern Ireland, polls suggest the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein could win the largest number of seats.

Is it a sign that Northern Ireland is ready to overcome old divides, or of new troubles ahead? For the first time ever, Unionists could find themselves in the minority when ballots are counted in regional assembly elections. Under the Good Friday Agreement, the DUP would still share power with Sinn Fein, who could trigger a referendum on a united Ireland.

After a historic election victory, Sinn Fein is ready to pick Northern Ireland's first minister, but the DUP says it will not form a power-sharing government as long a post-Brexit trade agreement stays in place.

Enter the twilight of the world's longest reign. The 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth II missed what is arguably the highlight of any British monarch's calendar: the reading of the government's parliamentary program instead delivered by her son, the crown prince. The importance is mostly symbolic, since the Queen's Speech is written by the prime minister. However the optics of the exercise beget the question: what United Kingdom will Charles inherit?

Britain said it would "not shy away from taking action" over post-Brexit trade tensions in Northern Ireland as it rejected EU proposals to resolve the standoff.

As the British government indicates it is preparing to deviate from the Northern Ireland Protocol – a key part of the Brexit deal – the European Commissioner overseeing EU-UK relations tells FRANCE 24 he is "appealing to the UK government to come back to the negotiating table". Maros Sefcovic spoke to our Europe editor Catherine Nicholson.

Boris Johnson has again threatened to break post-Brexit agreements with the EU as victorious Sinn Fein accuses him of pandering to the DUP, which is blocking the formation of a government after recent elections.