A year ago when Edwin Poots unceremoniously quit as DUP leader, it really did feel like the party was imploding.
His razor-thin victory over Sir Jeffrey Donaldson in a leadership battle after the ousting of Arlene Foster was tearing Northern Ireland's largest unionist party apart.
Internal tensions reached fever pitch at a hotel meeting to ratify his leadership, with senior DUP figures walking out and a veteran member dramatically resigning.
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After the now-infamous gathering Mr Poots stepped confidently out in front of the media and brushed off talk of party infighting.
"No, the DUP is not a divided party," he told reporters late that night outside the Crowne Plaza Hotel in South Belfast.
Just three weeks later he resigned, bundling out of DUP headquarters into a waiting car - this time dodging questions from the press scrum.
His tumultuous time at helm came crashing down after he pressed ahead with nominating a First Minister despite opposition from colleagues over the UK government reaching a deal with Sinn Féin on Irish language legislation.
One year on from that unprecedented period, how is the party faring? The answer appears to be better than many expected.
Firstly, the DUP is still intact.
The party suffered more resignations in the weeks and months after Mr Poots became leader, but some did return to the fold when Sir Jeffrey took over the mantle.
Paul Bell, the veteran DUP member who famously quit outside the hotel, even stood for the DUP in May's election as a candidate in Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
It was a sign that some wounds have healed, although perhaps the ripple effect is still continuing as the DUP suffered another resignation just last week.
Former mayor of Derry and Strabane council Graham Warke quit the party, citing his desire to "move forward with a new political pathway".
A year ago, few would have thought Mr Poots would still be in front-line politics after being ousted as DUP leader.
But against all the odds he has clung on - and even copper-fastened his position within the party.
He retains his role as Agriculture Minister, continues as an MLA after swapping constituencies and succeeded Upper Bann MLA Diane Dodds as vice-chair of the DUP.
On the electoral front, the DUP's vote fell in May as had been long predicted in successive polls and it dropped behind Sinn Féin to second-largest party.
However, it was not the disaster of an election for the party that some had expected. The DUP managed to consolidate its overall vote and mitigate losses by reducing candidate numbers before the campaign began.
In many respects Sir Jeffrey's leadership has steadied the ship, but many of the challenges from a year ago remain unresolved.
There has been no sign of any changes resulting from a review led by former DUP leader Peter Robinson to address members' concerns over internal party structures being too top-down.
If the 'Poots putsch' that briefly came to power was about shaking up the senior party establishment, very little has changed.
The main issue that continues to pervade is Brexit.
One year on, we are still living in a political landscape shaped by the DUP trying get to grips with the fallout over Irish Sea trade under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The DUP lost votes to the more hardline TUV in the Assembly election but largely saw off the challenge posed by Jim Allister's party.
Sir Jeffrey's goal now will be to win back those votes in forthcoming polls, while simultaneously maneuvering the DUP into a position of accepting whatever compromise is reached on the protocol.
It will be a tremendously difficult feat, especially with Mr Allister arguing the UK government's planned legislation to override the protocol falls short of removing the so-called Irish Sea border.
The DUP may have put a lid on the turmoil and infighting for now, but many pitfalls lie ahead that could see party differences resurface once more.
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