Like many among her generation who grew up during the Troubles, Andrea Catherwood chose a future outside of Northern Ireland. When Andrea left home, the IRA was still active and the talks which would lead to the Good Friday Belfast Agreement had yet to begin. Back then, the prospect of a united Ireland seemed remote and unionist parties enjoyed a comfortable majority at the polls.

Now, the combined unionist parties have lost their majority in the Stormont Assembly. The DUP and the UUP have had five new leaders between them in the last six months. Calls for a referendum on Irish unity are becoming increasingly amplified and its outcome could be determined by an increasing number of voters who no longer identify as unionist or nationalist. The creation of new trade barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK has been blamed for triggering Loyalist violence and unionists say it threatens Northern Ireland's constitutional status within the UK. In this, Northern Ireland's centenary year, unionism may have reached a critical turning point.

Andrea Catherwood crosses the Irish Sea and goes back home to Northern Ireland to ask what unionism means now and explore some of the challenges it faces.

In programme two, Andrea focuses on the impact of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Negotiated by Boris Johnson's government as part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, the Protocol keeps Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods. To avoid the need for checks on the Irish land border, EU Customs rules are enforced at N Ireland’s ports instead. Unionists call it ‘The Irish Sea Border' and insist it damages not only trade but more fundamentally, Northern Ireland’s place in the UK.

Producer: Conor Garrett Show less