Today marks one-and-a-half years from the collapse of the Northern Ireland government. 18 months without elected representatives making the decisions that matter to the people of Northern Ireland. We’re on course to overtake the record set by Belgium for the longest period a western democracy has endured without an elected government: 589 days. We’ll reach that inglorious milestone on 28 August, unless anything changes.

In many respects, however, we’ve already out-done Belgium. In Belgium – as in other democracies – a caretaker government continues to hold power until a new government can be formed after an election. That means that ministers carry on in office, able to take basic decisions, until a coalition agreement is reached and their successors are appointed.

In Northern Ireland the Civil Service had essentially adopted this role of ‘caretaker government’. But the power of civil servants to make big decisions has been hampered by the court case overturning planning permission for the Mallusk incinerator. Upholding the ruling earlier this month, the Court of Appeal concluded: “It would be contrary to the letter and spirit of the (Good Friday) Agreement and the 1998 (Northern Ireland) Act for such decisions to be made by departments in the absence of a minister.”

Yet the British government has still not yet stepped in with direct rule – and looks unlikely to do so anytime soon.

So here we are, 546 days and counting, floating along in limbo.

Despite all of this, what have we done? Can people in Northern Ireland really be satisfied without a functioning elected government? We seem to be content with mutterings of discontent and not a whole lot more.

But how long can we go on like this? How long can the big decisions be put off?

Although our politicians still can’t agree on the issues that brought down the government surely we, the people, can agree that the status quo is the worst of all worlds? The latest polling evidence says that a majority of people want a government of Northern elected representatives back in action. So what are we willing to do about it?

On Friday we saw 250,000 people take to the streets of London to protest against President Trump’s visit to the UK. People were outraged, and they expressed it.

Also on Friday – and more importantly for this part of the world – hundreds of people gathered in Derry/Londonderry in defiance of the violence over the previous six nights. Citizens from across the community stood with trade unionists, clergy, business leaders and, yes, politicians.

The absence of a government at Stormont did not cause the violence and unrest we saw last week. But it does serve as a troubling reminder that there are people in our society who will do whatever they can to exploit a vacuum. As long as elected politicians prolong that vacuum by failing to return to government, it is up to us, the people of Northern Ireland, to fill it with our voices instead.

How can we do this? Is the Northern Ireland government worth our collective energy? How can we constructively fill the vacuum left by elected politicians? How can we get them back into their jobs?

I’m genuinely asking. All ideas welcome.