Northern Ireland hasn't had a government for nearly 18 months now. The assembly has not met, and direct rule from Westminster has not been instituted.
It's being run by the civil service on a day to day basis, with an occasional hand out from Westminster when it looks like they will run out of money.
How long do you think a province can carry on without a government?Can the minor bureaucrats and civil servants hold it indefinitely?
By the way it's a sobering thought to see a province seems to get on very well being run by the civil service. Didn't Italy do that a while back? During the Silvio Berlusconi fiasco
