It was a frantic final day for the Stormont Assembly as MLAs rushed to complete outstanding legislation before their mandate came to an end.
Six bills were passed on Thursday, including laws to stop hospital parking charges, tackle period poverty and ban anti-abortion protests directly outside sexual health centres.
A bill from Alliance's Chris Lyttle to stop teachers being exempt from fair employment laws was also approved despite concerns last month that the Assembly could run out of time.
Read more: Brendan Hughes: Assembly candidate selections show DUP electoral problems
There were cheers in the Assembly chamber and in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings on several occasions as MLAs and party activists celebrated.
The jubilant scenes were all the more heightened after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic significantly constraining gatherings on the hill.
Rarely, if indeed ever, has the Assembly felt so productive.
A backlog of legislative ambitions had built up after three years of hiatus in the wake of the RHI scandal.
In the two years since Stormont was restored, 47 bills have been passed - half of them in the last six weeks - compared to 78 bills in the preceding five-year term.
However, in many instances Northern Ireland has simply been playing catch-up with legislative changes introduced in other parts of the UK, such as long-delayed changes to defamation laws.
The Assembly class of 2017-2022 were forced to clear their offices and vacate Parliament Buildings ahead of fresh elections.
For some it was their last time as MLAs as they are not standing for re-election. For others the electorate may determine they will not returning after May 5.
While the election campaign is only six weeks, don't expect a fully functioning power-sharing government to be re-formed anytime soon.
The DUP collapsed the Stormont Executive in February by pulling Paul Givan out of the First Minister post in opposition to Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.
And the party says it will not re-enter the devolved government until its issues with the Irish Sea trade arrangements are addressed by the UK and European Union.
While talks are continuing between London and Brussels to make changes to the Protocol, It is unclear when or if any resolution will be found - and whether that will even satisfy unionist demands.
The lack of a fully restored Executive after the election will not however mean a return to the de facto Civil Service rule that happened following Stormont's collapse in 2017.
Westminster in February passed legislation which allows current Stormont ministers to remain in office in a caretaker capacity for some months after the election if a new government is not immediately formed.
This will at least give some form of stability, although ministers will be restricted in what decisions they can make during this limbo period.
Pressing issues such as securing a multi-year budget, which would help in strategic planning of much-needed reforms to the health service, will have to be parked once more.
The DUP will present its refusal to return to the Stormont Executive as a protest against Irish Sea trade checks under the Protocol.
But the move will also buy time to take stock of the election results, which opinion polls suggest could see the DUP lose its position as the largest party in the Assembly to Sinn Féin.
Losing the mantle of largest party - and with it the post of First Minister - would be a major psychological blow to unionism.
Both the DUP and Ulster Unionists have refused to say whether they would accept the role of Deputy First Minister if Sinn Féin became the largest party.
It could take months for the DUP to prepare its base for potentially accepting the Deputy First Minister post.
After a last flurry of productivity at Stormont, it seems Northern Ireland could be faced with another prolonged period of inaction and stalemate.
Read more: Brendan Hughes: Assembly candidate selections show DUP electoral problems
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