As a fresh round of talks are set to begin next week, it is fair to say there is not a lot of optimism that we will reach a positive outcome.
If the negotiations fail to make meaningful progress and the people elected by the citizens of Northern Ireland remain unable to take decisions and pass legislation in a devolved assembly, then we would be in very difficult territory.
Some people may shrug and declare total indifference as to who sets the agenda and direction of travel for our health service, education system and the wider economy.
For the past year it has been civil servants keeping the public services ticking over, with some input from the secretary of state.
That is one approach but it will only work up to a point.
Civil servants are not there to take decisions that are the responsibility of elected ministers.
At some stage we either get the assembly back up and running or Theresa May decides that it is time for direct rule with Tory ministers of her choosing taking charge.
People need to think about that prospect particularly in the context of a Conservative government dependent on the DUP for survival.
Elected representatives heading for the talks on Wednesday also need to consider the impact the continuing impasse is having on those who are desperately waiting for their legitimate concerns to be addressed.
People like Clint Massey, a victim of childhood sexual abuse while a resident of the notorious Kincora boys' home, who has been told he has just months to live.
He has called for the implementation of the recommendations of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry which delivered its findings a year ago, just after the collapse of the Stormont assembly.
Since those findings were reported, seven of the victims who gave evidence have died, which is quite shocking.
Among them was Billy McConville, son of murdered mother-of-ten Jean McConville, who, shortly before he died, made a heart-rending plea for politicians to help victims like him who were in chronic need.
It is appalling that people who suffered dreadful abuse while in care and who are now facing health and financial struggles, should be denied compensation at this stage of their lives.
Those who suffered so much as children should not have to endure the stress and anxiety of having to fight for measures that were recommended by a statutory inquiry headed by a retired judge.
Campaigners calling for the payment of compensation have urged secretary of state Karen Bradley to pass legislation at Westminster in the absence of an assembly.
As the plight of Clint Massey shows, this is a matter that cannot wait while politicians deliberate.
Survivors of abuse deserve to be heard.
