Stormont’s ‘caretaker’ ministers are due to stand down on 28 October. Whether or not the Secretary of State calls a new election, it seems likely that senior civil servants will find themselves left in charge of departmental business, without any political leadership.

A new report from Pivotal, the independent think tank focused on Northern Ireland, says that this situation is inadequate to address the local list of short– and long–term crises, with those senior officials likely to be unsure of exactly what powers they wield.