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.
Read more: December Northern Ireland Assembly election to cost £6.5m
Here is our guide to what could happen and what it means for Northern Ireland:
Why is Northern Ireland facing another Assembly election?
A Stormont election was last held in May, but the power-sharing institutions have been in limbo with the DUP blocking their re-establishment in protest over Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.
Under legislation introduced earlier this year, Stormont's current caretaker ministers can only remain in post for up to 24 weeks without a new Executive being formed.
It means if there is still no new devolved government formed by October 28, the Secretary of State is required to call a snap election to be held within the subsequent 12 weeks.
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When would a fresh election take place?
Election officials are making plans for a potential poll on December 15.
Virginia McVea, chief electoral officer, said a fresh poll would cost the public approximately more than £6.5million.
Could another election still be averted?
There has been a lot of scepticism as to whether Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris will follow through with his legal requirement to call an election.
Many have questioned what another poll would achieve, especially as talks have recently resumed between the UK and European Union to resolve the impasse over the protocol.
But Mr Heaton-Harris has repeatedly insisted he will call an election if an Executive is not re-established by midnight on October 28.
He told MPs on Tuesday he "can't see the space" for any emergency legislation at Westminster to avert the legal requirement for an election.
It appears unlikely that London and Brussels will reach a deal on the protocol at this late stage that would convince the DUP to re-enter the Executive.
There has been speculation the DUP could avert an election by briefly returning to the Executive, only to leave it again almost immediately. The tactic would potentially reset the clock on the six-month legislative deadline for calling an election.
However, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said his party "do not fear the prospect of a fresh election, far from it".
"We have never been afraid to take our case to the people," he told his party conference earlier this month.
What happens if an election is called?
Most ministers from the previous administration before the last election in May have remained in post in a limited caretaker capacity.
But if there is no Executive formed by October 28, those ministers are removed from office and Stormont departments will be left in the hands of civil servants.
Northern Ireland thinktank Pivotal said the powers of senior civil servants in this scenario are "both limited and unclear" but they would "operate under even greater constraints" than caretaker ministers.
Talks between the UK and EU on the protocol were paused during the previous election campaign, but Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris said he was "confident" negotiations this time "will continue no matter what".
In the absence of an Executive, it is likely an emergency budget for Northern Ireland would be passed through Westminster to give more financial certainty to Stormont departments.
What impact does the Tory turmoil at Westminster have on all this?
The unprecedented turmoil within the Conservative Party over Liz Truss' floundering premiership will inevitably place Northern Ireland's own political problems further down the pecking order.
After the resignations of Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor and Suella Braverman as Foreign Secretary, there could be further Cabinet exits to come.
A change of Prime Minister or Secretary of State for Northern Ireland could bring a shift in strategy on tackling the deadlock at Stormont.
Asked by reporters in Belfast on Wednesday if he was confident he would still be in post by the October 28 deadline to restore Stormont, Mr Heaton-Harris said: "Yes."
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