Last week the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier met with political leaders from Scotland and Wales, as well as British Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, as he sought a range of views ahead of the start of the latest round of Brexit negotiations this week.

But given the political deadlock at Stormont, there were no political leaders from here in a position to go to Brussels and emphasise the important issues around Brexit for Northern Ireland.

Instead, it looks like it will be the autumn at the earliest before the political institutions are restored at Stormont. So in the meantime, we are left with civil servants in charge. However, their powers to make any decisions which could cut across departments are currently limited without a Stormont Executive in place.

It means that a number of important issues for the agri-food industry are effectively on hold. That includes setting up a new marketing organisation to promote our food and drink, putting forward a plan to eradicate bovine TB or establishing a new land use policy for NI agriculture. It is a very frustrating time for any farming leader lobbying government.

But the impression given at present is that everything has come to a halt, and there is a danger that the current political impasse is used as a reason not to make any decisions at all. Unfortunately, there is a culture of fear around decision making in the civil service, and once engrained, it is a hard mindset to overcome.

What might change the status quo is a return to direct rule, which while not palatable to many, and certainly not ideal, would potentially put the onus on senior civil servants to take more of a lead. The alternatives are that the political impasse is broken soon, or as one senior figure in the UFU put it recently, DAERA top brass “man up and take some responsibility”.