At the Port of Larne, they know more than most about the protocol and the likes. This is where the customs checks happen.
And on the streets of the town, a sense that the new arrangements on offer under the Windsor Framework should be accepted.
The first man we stop to speak to said: "I'm not going to care too much about the minutiae, that's for people more knowledgeable than me. I just hope they get back into power and do what they are all elected to do."
In Larne, Co Antrim - the home constituency of the DUP MP Sammy Wilson - there were mixed views on yesterday's announcement and on the prospect of a restoration of power-sharing | More: https://t.co/3qYX9kYajY pic.twitter.com/wbJJN7UGJ3
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 28, 2023
The local MP here in Larne is the DUP's Sammy Wilson, a vocal critic of the current protocol arrangements. But for one woman we spoke to it's the DUP party leader who she's waiting on.
"Jeffrey Donaldson, I hope he agrees with it. I hope he doesn't hesitate. We're waiting on him to make up his mind. We really are," she said.
Another woman said: "At the end of the day, it's the NHS the elderly and the children are suffering. I think we just need to get back in and get our country back to where it was."
The existing protocol set-up has meant some businesses here are struggling to get goods from Britain.
"We couldn't get in roses, climbers, and plants," she said.
Beth Lunney is owner of Saintfield Nursery, which is located around 50km from Larne. She hopes the Windsor Framework can simplify things.
"It isn't nice to be cut off from the rest of your country ... I just hope it achieves that we go back to normal, that I don't have to come down at night and sit and fill in forms because I'm too busy during the day to do it," she said.
Broadly speaking, businesses in Northern Ireland have had an initial positive response to the plan. And, in theory, that could put extra pressures on the political parties, including the DUP to accept it.
Back in Larne though, it's clear not all are convinced.
A woman tell us: "From what I've read they're rushing them into it, and I don't think they need to rush into it ... I don't trust the British government... No, not happy."
