The last few weeks have not been a good time for politics in Northern Ireland and few people have emerged from this period covered in glory, Kingmill victim Alan Black the notable exception.
The Barry McElduff controversy, which has hurt so many and angered so many more, was incredibly divisive.
The West Tyrone MP did the right thing by resigning on Monday. Regardless of his initial intent his position had become untenable and an unwelcome distraction to trying to mend and repair our damaged and broken political process.
Sinn Féin have been criticised for not expelling Mr McElduff sooner, but the decision to resign was his and his alone.
His supporters may well blame unionists and the media on his departure but truth be told he has to shoulder the responsibility for the embarrassment and upset caused.
Both Declan Kearney and John O'Dowd made no excuses for the Sinn Féin 'joker', only party leader Michelle O'Neill spoke in conciliatory terms and there may be genuine geographical reasons for that.
The remarkable interview between John O'Dowd and Edwin Poots last week with BBC journalist Mark Carruthers brought hope where there was previously only despair.
While some dismissed it as a political stunt, I was in the BBC studio during the filming and could see there was a genuineness there. There were strong comments that brought some much-needed calmness to an increasingly toxic situation.
John O'Dowd's family were victims, along with three members of the Reavey family murdered the day before the attack on the 11 Protestant workmen on a roadside in south Armagh. Alan Black survived to tell his story, most recently to RTE, and that graphic and moving interview will have shocked many living in the south who have little understanding of what we in Northern Ireland endured.
An awful and bloody time during which people suffered and were left to deal with their grief in a fast moving and ruthless conflict with attention quickly moving on to the next victim, the one after that and the one after that.
However, while John O'Dowd and Edwin Poots had clearly read the public mood and realised it was their duty as elected representatives to calm the situation, it should not be seen as an indicator that they are going back into government in the near future.
Speaking on The View Mr Poots, a former DUP minister, said any deal at this time would be a hard sell to his community.
And therein lies the problem for unionism. The DUP have a new-found power base in Westminster, a place where Nigel Dodds enjoys popularity among the Tory benches.
The power within the party has shifted to the ten MPs, many of whom are old school Paisleyites who voted against the Good Friday Agreement and have never made any effort to sell the peace accord to unionist voters.
Ian Paisley junior has made no secret of the fact he wants direct rule ministers appointed. A move that will leave his party colleagues at Stormont facing unemployment - not all have fall back businesses or careers.
The last twelve months have been extremely polarising. We've had two elections which brought people, both nationalist and unionist, out to vote in greater numbers than at any time since the Good Friday Agreement.
Those voters pledged support to the DUP and Sinn Féin in vast numbers, at a time of division and political crisis.
I refuse to be one of the commentariate who denounce those thousands of voters who don't go for the middle ground.
When people in my profession sneer or look down on people who vote as they do then we enter into difficult territory.
Sneering produced Brexit, sneering produced Trump.
Unionists are angry. We could see this around the McElduff saga when they united around a common cause. It is easy to see why the UUP felt this could be built upon with their suggestion for a victim to take on Sinn Féin in the West Tyrone by election.
While the statement calling for a victim unity candidate put the DUP on the back foot, the muted reaction shows the party realise what a destructive move this would be.
The circumstances that created the need for a by election in West Tyrone were unfortunate and divisive, the vote itself does not need to follow in the same vein.
