It would be entirely ridiculous if another Stormont Assembly election takes place on the eve of Christmas, but, unless attitudes change swiftly, it is an outcome which looks set to be confirmed by the end of this week.
There is little prospect that returning a new set of MLAs will restore fully functioning devolved institutions, and the DUP appears to be under the impression that it can then indefinitely attempt to maintain a stalemate at Parliament Buildings without any wider consequences.
It was therefore important to note two prominent voices from outside nationalism declaring over recent days what can expected to follow if the power-sharing administration is shelved on a long term basis.
The DUP is already well aware that the protocol scheme, which can be revised swiftly with good will on all sides, was an inevitable outcome of the Brexit fiasco which it strongly endorsed.
Alliance leader and justice minister Naomi Long predicted that any alternative plan would involve an authority role for the Irish government rather than some version of direct role from London.
She said she did not believe most northern citizens would accept control being exercised from the chaotic surroundings of what she described as a `Westminster that's now losing its mind’, which looks increasingly like an understatement.
Ms Long was entitled to question how direct rule in the present circumstances could be viewed in the context of the Good Friday Agreement, and tellingly the Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie also predicted that some form of joint authority was on the cards.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald was even firmer during a visit to Downpatrick on Friday when she said there was `no doubt' that any collapse at Stormont would result in closer cooperation between Dublin and London.
She said specifically that the only alternative to viable cross community Stormont structures would be joint arrangements involving the Irish and British states.
There will also be widespread agreement with the view of the SDLP leader Colum Eastwood that the election which needs to take place urgently should at Westminster rather than Stormont level.
We are facing enormous economic challenges which are putting unprecedented pressures on people from all sections of our community, whether they regard themselves as coming from nationalist, unionist or other backgrounds.
Solutions will have to be found urgently, and, if Stormont cannot deliver progress, the shared input of the Irish and British governments will become paramount.
