The steady stream of announcements made in recent weeks about the vital public services facing the axe is in danger of becoming a torrent as the full extent of Stormont budget pressures becomes more apparent by the day.
Secretary of state Chris Heaton-Harris and his NIO colleague Steve Baker have emphasised that deep cuts will have to be made, laying the blame on "years of financial mismanagement which have left Northern Ireland’s finances on an unsustainable footing".
There is undoubtedly truth in this. The RHI fiasco is but one revealing example of how ministers and civil servants have approached stewardship of taxpayers' money. It is, however, also true that the Conservative government's particular economic philosophy - often branded 'Tory austerity' - has contributed to our plight.
The independent NI Fiscal Council says that Stormont's budget faces a 6.4 per cent drop this financial year. This is bad enough, but is exacerbated by a wider economic climate that means government, as well as families and households, is also having to weather the storms of high inflation and other cost of living pressures.
With no Stormont Executive in place - and no sign that the DUP will soon end a boycott of the Assembly which it knows is punishing the public - it has been left to civil servants to decide how their departments can meet Mr Heaton-Harris's demands.
It is perverse that the DUP will rail against the bogeyman of EU bureaucrats having influence in Northern Ireland - especially now that the Windsor Framework has provided for the Stormont brake mechanism, which has been backed by an overwhelming majority of MPs - while being content to allow unelected civil servants to make decisions affecting the public services we all rely upon and interact with.
It all places civil servants in an impossible position. It is clear that the cuts will disproportionately affect the most vulnerable in our society.
The Department of Education has already ended the 'holiday hunger' scheme. Now it has said the 'Extended Schools' Programme' will be forced to close. Since 2006 it has offered support to disadvantaged pupils, providing speech and language therapy sessions, breakfast and homework clubs, and sports and arts opportunities.
This bleak scenario is being repeated across all Stormont departments. It should serve as a counterpoint - a reality check, even - to some of the celebrations around the Good Friday Agreement's 25th anniversary. Politics must be made to work for all the people here, and it should be our MLAs who make the decisions that materially affect this society.
