A Christmas election is looming for Northern Ireland if a new Stormont government is not formed by next week.
The Secretary of State has remained adamant he will follow through with his legal requirement to call a snap Assembly poll if power-sharing is not restored by midnight on October 28.
But with Stormont in a state of flux and the Tories in turmoil at Westminster, how the coming days and weeks will pan out is becoming increasingly hard to predict.