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Stay with us on the BBC News NI website over the weekend as we continue to bring you all the latest political drama ahead of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's visit to Northern Ireland on Monday.

His visit comes as the DUP, now the second-largest party by seats, said it would not nominate ministers to Stormont's governing executive until its concerns about the Northern Ireland Protocol were resolved.

The DUP's decision to not elect a Speaker - a move which requires cross community support - means that there can be no debates in the assembly, no committees can be held, and the actions of ministers, currently acting in a caretaker capacity, cannot be scrutinised.

We'll keep you up to date.

Have a great weekend.

Image source, PA Media

Speaking before proceedings at Stomont got under way, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the choice for the UK government was "clear".

"We have taken the decision at this stage to not support the election of a Speaker," he added.

"I believe that we need to send a very clear message to the European Union and to our government that we are serious about getting this protocol sorted out because of the harm it is doing, undermining political stability, damaging the agreements that have formed the basis of the political progress made in Northern Ireland, harming our economy, contributing to the cost of living crisis.

"This matter needs to be dealt with, whilst others sit on their hands. We are not prepared to do that."

Speaking after the assembly sitting, SDLP MLA Matthew O'Toole claims the DUP "is no longer a party of democrats".

"They have subverted the clear will of people here and are once again pinning all their hopes on Boris Johnson coming to save them," he says.

"They never learn."

Image source, Getty Images

On the subject of the rising cost of living, Mr O'Toole adds: "Children are going hungry, parents are sitting in cold homes that they cannot afford to heat, pensioners are waiting in agony on hospital treatment.

"The failure to elect a Speaker today, and particularly a speaker who could command support across the assembly, like Patsy McGlone, is an affront to everyone struggling right now."

According to Justice Minister Naomi Long, yes.

"I will be in my ministerial office working for the people who elected me," the Alliance leader tells journalists.

"We will continue to do all that we can to make life better for the people of Northern Ireland irrespective of those who have nothing to offer but more drama, more division and more disruption."

Image source, NI Assembly

As the DUP blocked the election of a Speaker to a new assembly, it cannot fully function.

Ms Long adds that it is "a shameful day for the DUP, but despite that we are here ready to work".

"We may not be able to go into the chamber and do the work as we intended, but we will be in our constituencies working for the people who elected us."

Flanked by her party colleagues, Alliance leader Naomi Long is scathing in her criticism of the DUP.

"Make no mistake of the gulf between those who got up today in the chamber and bemoaned the cost of food in Marks and Spencer and those who I represent who get their food from foodbanks," she says.

Ms Long says it "just shows the detachment there is between some people who come to this chamber interested only in their party's self-interest and those of those who actually come here to serve".

The Alliance leader also criticises DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson, in particular.

"I am appalled that we could not even challenge the person who made this decision because, having been returned as an MLA only a week ago, he has disappeared off to his safety net in parliament to the comfy green benches."

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Doug Beattie says it "looks like we’re having collective punishment here in Northern Ireland".

"All of the people are going to suffer because we can't elect a speaker and we cannot get an executive up and running.

"We can argue all we want, but the reality is that from Stormont we are going to have silence."

He adds that "some of us wanted to work, some of us wanted to engage, some of us wanted to fix the problems like adults".

"Yet today we had an absolute pantomime, a circus where we couldn’t even elect a speaker – truly shameful."

Michelle O'Neill confirms her Sinn Féin colleague John O'Dowd would be the interim infrastructure minister in a new executive.

He was previously a Stormont education minister.

The post was held by the SDLP's Nichola Mallon, who failed to retain her seat in last week's election.

After a Speaker was not elected, the SDLP's Matthew O'Toole asks whether written questions can still be sent to caretaker ministers.

He also asks "what consideration will be given to those parties qualified for opposition to organise themselves in order to challenge caretaker ministers and hold them to account?".

Speaker Alex Maskey says the assembly is limited as it can’t continue business but that written questions can continue to be sent.

Image source, PA Media

Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill says that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is coming to Northern Ireland on Monday.

"I intend to put it to him directly that he needs to stop pandering to the DUP," she says

"They're playing a game of chicken with the European Commission right now and we're caught in the middle."

Following the assembly session, Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill is asked about her use of Northern Ireland rather than the north of Ireland, as is usually the case for her party, during Friday's proceedings.

She replies: "I am the first minister designate for Northern Ireland.

"Some people say Northern Ireland, some people say the north of Ireland.

"That’s the beauty of the Good Friday Agreement, I think we can all be very comfortable with that."

She says the rest of the parties "turned up to do business today".

"Regrettably the DUP has not and regrettably they have gone even further than that and have boycotted an executive being formed and punished the public for their own selfish interest," she says

The Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry says the failure to elect a Speaker is "yet another blow to business and investor confidence".

"At a time when our elected representatives should be getting straight to work to tackle a myriad of very significant challenges, we remain in limbo," the president, Paul Murnaghan says.

Image source, Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce

“The uncomfortable truth is, while this continues, the reputational damage to Northern Ireland as a place to invest and work grows daily. For local businesses, little can be done to mitigate against the litany of challenges including soaring costs and skills shortages without a stable, functioning executive and legislature.

“We call on all political representatives to stop allowing division to hold back progress and form a stable, fully functioning assembly and executive without delay.”

Mike Nesbitt’s nomination for Speaker was backed by 51.9% of MLAs.

Patsy McGlone’s nomination was supported by 71.3% of MLAs.

But both nominations fail as they don’t have cross-community support, without the DUP, who did not vote.

This means Alex Maskey will stay in the role.

The principle of power-sharing is what sets Northern Ireland apart from the UK's other nations.

It means that in any government there must be representatives from both the nationalist community - who favour unity with the Republic of Ireland - and unionists, who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK.

The idea is that, whatever their historic differences, both communities have a vested interest in the system.

Image source, Getty Images

The executive, or cabinet, is multi-party, and ministers are drawn from both unionist, nationalist and non-aligned parties, based on how many seats they have won in an election.

This also means that politicians from smaller parties can be appointed as ministers.

Northern Ireland has a first minister and a deputy first minister and both have equal powers.

Sinn Féin emerged as the biggest party after last week's elections, meaning the party can appoint a first minister.

As the largest unionist party, the DUP can appoint a deputy first minister.

But one cannot be in office without the other.

If either the first minister or the deputy first minister resigns, the other is also forced to resign, whether they want to or not.

Read more on how it all works here.

Independent MLA Claire Sugden says she particularly wants to congratulate the women who were elected to the assembly.

She tells the speaker that she is grateful for the "voice" that he has given smaller parties and independents like her.

Image source, NI Assembly

"For me, the election campaign did feel particularly brutal against women," she says.

She adds that women did well in the election "despite the abuse that some of you faced and that was unacceptable", she adds.

Ms Sugden says she is now the longest serving independent in NI Assembly history, which she says is an "honour", harking back to her maiden speech.

Addressing the collected MLAs in front of her, she says: "Take responsibility for the power that you have been gifted."

She says the issues the protocol brings are not "insurmountable" and they require an approach from all members of the house to be "fix" it together.

The Northern Ireland Protocol has been mentioned on numerous occasions throughout this sitting, but what is it?

Special arrangements were needed for Northern Ireland after the UK voted for Brexit in 2016.

This is because it is the only part of the UK with a land border with an EU country - the Republic of Ireland.

After Brexit, a new system was needed for transporting good across the border because the EU has strict food rules and requires border checks when certain goods, such as milk and eggs, arrive from non-EU countries.

Image source, getty

Instead of checking goods at the Irish border - which it was feared could lead to instability - the protocol agreed that any inspections and document checks would take place between Northern Ireland and Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) instead.

Checks on GB goods to make sure they comply with EU laws would take place at Northern Ireland ports .

Northern Ireland would also keep following EU rules on product standards.

Unionist parties argue that effectively placing a border across the Irish Sea undermines Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom.

Read more here.

DUP Foyle MLA Gary Middleton says his party will not be back in the executive "until unionist concerns are addressed".

He says his party has been sniggered at, "downtrodden" and dismissed when it raised issues with the protocol.

Image source, NI Assembly

Mr Middleton then accuses other parties of breaking Covid rules by travelling to Dublin to meet the Irish government.

Alliance leader Naomi Long brings a point of order, saying rules were not breached, and she asks Mr Middleton to withdraw his remarks.

The Speaker asks Mr Middleton to "desist" on this point.

Image source, NI Assembly

The SDLP's Daniel McCrossan says people watching the proceedings will be sick of seeing "the same regurgitated narrative and rubbish that is spilled in this house to distract from the real life problems that are affecting people's lives".

"No-one in this house was given a mandate to sit at home tomorrow," he adds.

"I believe in the common good, in standing up and representing each and every single citizen in my community," Mr McCrossan says.

Image source, NI Assembly

DUP's Edwin Poots says the Northern Ireland Protocol should not be "an orange or green issue" - but that members should come together in a call for it to be scrapped.

He says the protocol is the "elephant in the room".

"We hear people calling out about the cost of living, the reality is that the protocol will affect the cost of living for people not just in 2022, but 2032 and 2042 if we don’t deal with those issues now.

"This should not be an orange or green, unionist or nationalist issue – this is an issue for all of us."

He says the costs of extra checks will be passed onto consumers.

He says when the grace period - which suspends many checks on goods coming into Northern Ireland from Great Britain - ends, "we will have barriers placed on every mouthful of food that you consumed over your lunchtime today".

There's a more light-hearted turn in proceedings as Andrew Muir of the Alliance takes to the floor.

He pays tribute to Speaker Alex Maskey.

"When you were elected as speaker back in 2020 I knew you were a man of good workmanship as someone who helped decorate my grandparents’ home and did a very good job,” he says.

He says Mr Maskey did not fail to impress as speaker as a “fair and firm” and “made sure all voices were heard”.

He says his party supports both speaker nominations as both are “strong and capable".

“There people of NI are watching – we must elect a speaker. We must be allowed to do our job,” he said.

He says that if DUP vetoes the election is an “appalling abuse of power".

“The DUP seems to be addicted to the politics of deadlock, division and destruction,” he says.

Image source, NI Assembly

There is then intervention from TUV leader Jim Allister who asks: “Is consent not a fundamental building block for these institutions whether one likes it or not and therefore is it not wholly legitimate and within those processes to say, ‘Sorry I don’t consent?,” he asks.

Mr Muir answers: “The people of Northern Ireland consented and voted overwhelmingly for these institutions to sit and for an executive to be formed. No single party should be able to hold this place ransom."

The DUP's Gordon Lyons opens by reminding fellow assembly members that his party "has won a mandate".

"I know that is difficult for some other members to respect but that mandate is that we will not be going into an executive until we deal with the instability of the protocol and that we deal with the long shadow that it is casting," he says.

He accuses the SDLP, Sinn Féin and Alliance of changing their minds on the election of a Speaker since October 2019.

Image source, NI Assembly

"I want us to have devolution in Northern Ireland but I want us to have stable devolution in Northern Ireland," he adds.