23 Good Fridays Later - a podcast by Sam Rippon and Chern Han Mah

As the UK gears up for the local and regional elections series, this week's episode takes a special look at the one area of the UK not holding elections this cycle - Northern Ireland. It also includes a a review of last week's Bulgarian elections as Boyko Borissov looks to fight for his role as Prime Minister to continue, and it looks at the Biden Cabinet confirmation process, discussing why with the exception of Neera Tanden's position, it was relatively seamless.

Just over one year on from the restoration of power-sharing in Northern Ireland, Sam and Chern take a look this week at the state of politics in the six counties, and the state of the parties that operate there. Amidst a rise in unionist-nationalist tension, this week's episode discusses what makes the region so turblent even 23 years on from the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and how the party system has transformed as a result of this. Why did Arlene Foster's DUP overtake the UUP as the main unionist party, just as Sinn Fein did to the SDLP on the nationalist side? How much room does a non-sectarian party like Alliance have to grow into? Has the change in leadership from Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness to Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O'Neill helped Sinn Fein grow as a force in Northern Ireland and the Republic? All these questions and more answered in this week's episode.

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