(1st piece) 100 years of women’s involvement in politics in Ireland (this year marks the 100th anniversary of the election of Countess Markievicz to the Irish and Westminster Parliament) , reflecting on the reasons why there are still so very few women in the Oireachtas: 22% only of the TDs are currently women

(2nd piece) Give an account of the current developments in the Brexit debate and how a “no deal” situation could affect Ireland. Each piece should be approximately 500 words in length (2 or 3 pages)

Even though Brexit happened more than six months ago, both sides still need to work out the rules for their new relationship.

This includes everything from trade, immigration, aviation, security and access to fishing waters.

This has to be negotiated and signed off by the EU and UK Parliaments by the end of the year.

Immediately after Brexit day – on 31 January – the UK went into a transition period with the EU. This was to give both sides breathing space to agree the new arrangements.

During transition the UK is still following EU rules and trading in the same way as before. However, the UK is no longer part of the EU’s political institutions – so there are now no British MEPs in the European Parliament.

This transition period will last until 31 December 2020, when the new EU-UK relationship will begin. The deadline for extending the transition has now passed