Northern Ireland has been without a government since January 2017 following the collapse of the power-sharing coalition between the DUP and Sinn Féin, leaving the people of Northern Ireland without direct representation in the Brexit discussions at a critical juncture. Finding a solution for the Northern Ireland border with the Republic of Ireland is crucial if the Brexit negotiations are to succeed, as NI is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another EU member state. Matters are further complicated by the fact that this particular border has had a complicated history fraught with tension and violence. At this Sixty-minute Briefing, David Sterling, Head of the Civil Service in Northern Ireland laid out what the political impasse means for the people, the politics and the economy of Northern Ireland, for its relations with the Irish Republic and its position in the Brexit negotiations.