Explain why the Northern Ireland protocol (proposed by Boris Johnson, and his government, Prime Minister at the time) and agreed by the EU as part of the Brexit agreement and subsequently signed into law by the UK and EU is now creating difficulties from its implementation. In particular, focus on three areas for your discussion: i) implications from the political perspective and from the communities in Northern Ireland, ii) the perspective of the UK government, iii) rationale as to why the EU has not been willing to make major changes to the Northern Ireland protocol.