Devolution Returns to Northern Ireland
When you think about the different effects that Brexit has had on the life, devolution is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. Nevertheless it has certainly had an impact.
In the wake of the vote, Scotland's support for remain lead to renewed calls for independence; a campaign that remain strong nearly 10 years later. In the world of legislation, areas that were previously consistent across the four countries that make up the UK are now beginning to look quite different as devolved assemblies flex their muscles.
However, nowhere has felt the pains of Brexit more than Northern Ireland. That country's geographical position in relation to the Republic of Ireland made negotiations especially difficult and eventually led to the rather awkward Northern Ireland Protocol.
Despair at the position taken by the government led the Conservatives natural allies, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), to pull out of devolved government in Northern Ireland entirely. Now a new deal orchestrated by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has paved the way for devolution to return to Northern Ireland for the first time in two years.
This should be rightly celebrated as a victory for democracy and an historic landmark as a nationalist party takes the reins of power in Stormont for the first time.
Nevertheless, even as some sense of normality returns, there are a couple of things that constitutional scholars should not forget about the period when government buildings sat empty.