Image source, Getty Images

We are wrapping up the live page for today, as the impact of Edwin Poots' resignation as DUP leader continues to reverberate.

It's expected the DUP will announce details on the process to find his successor next week. We'll bring you all the latest when it happens.

Meanwhile, you can stay up to date on all the news throughout the day on BBC News NI online, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Newsline.

Until the next time, enjoy your weekend.

Image source, PA/Brian Lawless

He was just 21 days in the job - so how did it all go wrong, so quickly for Edwin Poots?

We look at the major factors that turned the party against its new leader just weeks after electing him.

Read more here.

Belfast Telegraph political editor Suzanne Breen says she cannot see anyone beyond Sir Jeffrey Donaldson being the next DUP leader.

She tells BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme that Sir Jeffrey was "tried and trusted".

“His defeat last time was so narrow and I think that everything that has happened since Edwin Poots secured the leadership means that those people who voted for Mr Poots think that they made a mistake.

“There was clearly a case of buyer’s remorse yesterday.

“When the leadership election started out, I think Sir Jeffrey had a camp in the party which was slightly bigger than Edwin Poots much more traditional, fundamentalist support from the right of the party, but there was this middle ground and they came in behind Edwin Poots and that took him over the line.

“That support evaporated yesterday and that’s what cost Edwin Poots the leadership.

“I think the DUP will be in massive damage limitation now, they know that the past few weeks have been disastrous.”

Liverpool University's Jon Tonge also believes a problem for Jeffrey Donaldson, especially in the previous leadership contest, was that he was seen as a "Westminster man" and "not seen as a Stormont person".

"He was seen as that guilty crowd that was asleep on the watch while blindsided by [Prime Minister] Boris Johnson and was partly responsible for the NI Protocol debacle.

"That is why so many MLAs did not vote for him, although, they appear to have recounted quite dramatically yesterday."

Image source, PA Media

Prof Jon Tonge, of Liverpool University, who co-authored a book about the DUP in 2014, says he believes Sir Jefferey Donaldson is the clear frontrunner for the leadership of the party, but believes whoever takes charge will have their work cut out for them.

Mr Tonge tells BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback that some DUP party representatives could argue that they will end up with "the right result" from the party's previous leadership election on 14 May, but "in a terribly convoluted way of getting to that result".

Mr Poots, who took over as leader from Arlene Foster, had previously narrowly defeated Sir Jeffrey Donaldson in a leadership vote.

"I think it's much more likely we will have a coronation not a contest,.

"There is, of course, the irony - quite embarrassingly for the party - that the runner-up in a two-horse race in the first ever DUP leadership contest ends up winning."

He says he believes Mr Donaldson will be installed "sooner rather than later".

Enda McClafferty
BBC News NI political editor

How quickly could Edwin Poots be replaced?

The party officers will outline the timetable for that process, probably some time next week.

They will say this is a cut-off date, if anyone is interested in being the next DUP leader.

After that moves past that stage, then they will assess who is in the running - most probably I would expect there would only be one name in the frame, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson.

Then they will decide how that is going to be ratified or rubber-stamped - so I think it will be played out over the next week or so.

They will want to move pretty quickly I think, because they will want to turn this page very quickly. They want to turn the focus on what needs to happen now, without having to constantly look back at the sores created over the course of Edwin Poots' short reign as leader.

Edwin Poots' former colleague told The View the party's short-lived leader had no plan for the obvious obstacles to come - like Irish language laws.

You can watch Emma Little-Pengelly's full interview - and more - here.

Where does the DUP go now following Edwin Poots' resignation and what does it mean for Stormont?

Belfast Telegraph Political Editor Suzanne Breen and Prof Jon Tonge, of the University of Liverpool, will be among the guests assessing the latest political developments on BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback at noon.

Journalist Michael Crick and former government minister Edwina Currie will be discussing short political leaderships.

BBC News NI's Political Editor Enda McClafferty will also be providing analysis.

Image source, PA Media

The "cultural package", which includes Irish language laws, has been at the heart of this week's Stormont stand-off.

But what was agreed on language and culture in the New Decade New Approach (NDNA) agreement?

Some parts of that agreement have already quietly been enacted - like an Irish and Ulster-Scots language translation service for public bodies.

But the bulk of the NDNA measures are still to come into force. And, while the UK government has said it will legislate on language by September if Stormont doesn't, it remains to be seen what will happen in the wake of Edwin Poots' resignation.

Read BBC Arts Correspondent Robbie Meredith's full explainer here.

"You don't like to kick a man when he's down but ..."

The View spoke to Prof Jon Tonge within hours of Edwin Poots's resignation as DUP party leader.

Need a recap on an historic 24 hours? Watch the full programme here.

Alliance assembly member Kellie Armstrong says turmoil at Stormont is "crisis created for its own purpose".

She says Edwin Poots' resignation is "not the end of the world yet" - but the "big disaster" would be if the new leader forced out First Minister Paul Givan, triggering another seven-day period for the two main parties to nominate first and deputy first ministers.

"All this is a pantomime, it’s a crisis created for their own purposes," she tells The Nolan Show.

"There are ordinary people all over Northern Ireland who are still in lockdown and still need us to lead so playing a game with politics is just a nonsense.

"Things are being held up because of this carry on so can we all just as politicians take a wee step back – do they really want an election? I don’t think they do."

Image source, PA Media

BBC's The View wrapped on a day of historic news as Edwin Poots quit after just 21 days as DUP leader.

Mark Caruthers talks to former DUP MP and Arlene Foster's special advisor Emma Little-Pengelly, Belfast Telegraph's Suzanne Breen, the News Letter's Ben Lowry and Professor Jon Tonge, who has written extensively on the DUP.

Watch it back here.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood says there are lessons for unionist leaders following his resignation.

“Politics is very difficult, of course I feel personally sorry for Edwin Poots, but there is a lesson here for unionist leaders and for the next unionist leader if it is Jeffrey (Donaldson) or not,” he says.

“That I don’t think there is anything good will come from the type of politics that is being played out by unionism over the past number of months.

“You have to sit down with the rest of us, work through these issues.

“Creating crises, threatening to walk away will get you absolutely nowhere.”

Image source, PA Media

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood says he does not think nationalism’s interest lies in “having constant culture wars with the DUP and everybody else”.

“I think it lies in addressing the problems that are faced by our society," he tells The Nolan Show.

“People need to calm the situation down, work together, and sort the problems out.

“Running to the barricades on any side is not going to solve any of these problems.”

Four? Five? How about seven?

That was the number asked by BBC News NI Political Correspondent Jayne McCormack when Edwin Poots emerged from the DUP crisis meeting on Thursday night.

The questions went unanswered and it later emerged Mr Poots had resigned.

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie says that Sir Jeffrey Donaldson will still face problems if he becomes the next DUP leader.

Sir Jeffrey is believed to be in pole position to succeed Edwin Poots.

“If Jeffrey becomes the leader of the DUP then that’s up to him, but here’s his problem – the problems that he has have not gone away," he adds.

"He still has to make that decision in regards to the cultural package that his party agreed.

"He is still going to have to deal with that very issue.

"He is still going to have to deal with the issue of splits within his party.”

Image source, Pacemaker

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie says there is "a crisis" within the DUP and that “brand of unionism that follows them”.

“They are not the whole of unionism, there are other aspects of unionism – those people who vote for the Ulster Unionist Party, who vote for the TUV, who vote for the PUP or the very small number who vote for the Northern Ireland Conservatives," he tells The Nolan Show.

“They are not in crisis, they are looking to what we can do for the future.

“I would say to any unionist out there – don’t be putting up your white flag.

“If you show confidence, you will project strength.”

Former DUP MP, and special adviser to Arlene Foster, Emma Little-Pengelly says talk of a DUP implosion "completely overeggs the situation".

She adds that the Secretary of State "guaranteeing" the cultural legislation package - which is contained in the New Decade, New Approach agreement and includes Irish language laws - was "deeply unhelpful".

"The reality is we have been through a challenging time, there has been a time of transition, a new leader has come in, that leader has had a number of significant challenges and I suppose some people may be critical of how he has handled that but the DUP is a strong party, it’s a resilient party," she says.

"Undoubtedly there has been a crisis in terms of the leadership, the difficulties with the transition but there are hundreds of members and representatives of this party that are unified."

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney says “now is the time to give the DUP some space".

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme, he said other politicians need a DUP leader whom they can negotiate with while not always agreeing.

He added: “The last thing Northern Ireland needed is the largest party in a very divided place.”

Image source, Reuters

Mr Coveney said the UK government would still introduce an Irish language act if Stormont does not.

He said he had been in contact with Secretary of State Brandon Lewis over developments, and that they had “a good relationship” despite what some people think.

Sinn Féin's Chris Hazzard says the DUP is "struggling to come to terms" with a "modern, progressive society".

Speaking to Good Morning Ulster, he says the party's leadership has failed to see Northern Ireland is changing.

"We’re not in a situation any longer where we’re going to be able to stand over prejudice bigotry, we have a situation now where government is about reflecting society.

"Any incoming leader needs to think very quickly about how they approach this because these issues aren’t going away. They need to step into the 21st Century."

Image source, Pacemaker

He adds: "Power sharing is very, very difficult to do if not impossible with broken promises but it’s also impossible with broken parties.

"There needs to be unity of purpose in the executive and it’s very, very difficult to do that with a party that’s clearly at war with itself."