The resignation of the Lord Frost, the resignation of the UK's Brexit minister, has caused much speculation as to who his successor will be and the political direction of the UK's negotiations with the EU.
Ireland's EU commissioner Mairead McGuinness warned on Sunday that appeasing the Spartan wing of hardline Brexit rebels is not the answer to the impasse over Northern Ireland and other issues facing the new minister.
Who will be Frost's successor?
Two former EU secretaries, Dominic Raab and Stephen Barclay, are said to be in the frame, along with Iain Duncan Smith.
Some are calling for a fresh approach, arguing too much power lies in one man's hands.
The mess he leaves behind has to be sort out by others. This will need more than simply replacing Frost, crossbench peer Lord Ricketts, a former under secretary of the Foreign Office and ambassador to France, said on Sunday.
Johnson should take the opportunity to end the anomaly that the Minister responsible for relations with our nearest neighbours operates as a lone ranger in the Cabinet Office.
He should give the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office responsibility for EU policy, where it can be properly integrated into wider foreign policy under a senior minister for Europe. What are the priorities of the EU?
McGuinness told RTE on Sunday: The name will change, but the issues won't. She said the priority was to stabilise the situation in Northern Ireland, where there are divisions that threaten to be deep enough to collapse the devolved government.
She argued that another hardliner in the job was not the answer.
If there is no compromise, then there will be no progress, and that is untenable, she told RTE s This Week. She warned that if the priority is to appease hardliners in the Conservative party, then I think we are in a very bad place.
The priority has to be thatwhoever replaces Lord Frost comes to the table prepared to negotiate and compromise because we want to find solutions that work for Northern Ireland. What will be the new Brexit minister's in-tray, apart from Northern Ireland?
Critics hope that the departure of Lord Frost and the weakening of Boris Johnson clears the way for a new approach to relations with the EU.
Scientists believe that there is a chance that there is a resurgence in the discipline.
After a dispute with the EU over contributions to the science and research programme, a deal was struck last December to allow the UK to remain in the 80 billion flagship seven-year fund.
A year in, scientists are still locked out. Bill Cash, a veteran Eurosceptic, admitted that they were collateral damage, telling MPs recently that their participation in the programme was unfairly hampered by what he felt was a legitimate dispute in Northern Ireland.
Musicians and the creative industries are some of the best in the world.
Sir Elton John, a musician and performer, has accused the government of screwing their lives after Lord Frost signed a trade deal that ends visa-free travel for short working tours.
Expect the creative industries to meet with the new Minister of Trade in the near future.
British nationals living in the EU trying to return home with a European spouse have implored the government to relax the immigration restrictions that apply post-Brexit.
They want to extend the status for settled-status until the 29 March deadline for EU or other non-British spouses to apply for a family permit, which is the basis for the 29 March deadline. They say that the home office delays are so bad, taking six or more months to process applications, that British families are being forced to split with one spouse getting home for a new job or to look after an elderly parent and the spouse staying in the EU.
You can expect urgent campaigning on this in January.