So our political institutions are a shambles, failure to reach agreement on welfare reform is costing £10 million a month, and Stormont is in a tizzy over …. a tie.
Sinn Féin's Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Phil Flanagan was subjected to a dressing down by party colleague and Assembly speaker, Mitchel McLaughlin, for "inappropriate attire" in the chamber last week.
He was wearing a suit but no tie and that was deemed disrespectful. Get a grip, Mitchel. You sound preposterously pompous. Stormont is a laughing stock but it's nothing to do with what Phil Flanagan does, or doesn't, have around his neck.
A piece of fabric under their shirt collar has no bearing on a politician's capability or integrity. Indeed, some of the biggest rogues around are the ones most immaculately suited and booted.
This isn't the first time that Phil Flanagan has been reprimanded on the matter. Last year, the then speaker Willie Hay barred him from asking questions in the Assembly because he was tieless.
A defiant Flanagan pronounced, "It's far from ties I was reared". A DUP speaker's adherence to a conservative dress code is unsurprising.
But it's an eye-opener when a self-styled radical party like Sinn Féin is so wedded to the trappings of the establishment. You'd expect the Shinners to be overwhelmingly against the 'old school tie' with its connotations of snobbery, elitism, connection and privilege.
Jeremy Corbyn regularly appears tieless as does Greek Prime Minister Alexander Tsipras. But it's not just a fad in socialist circles.
The idea that men must have a suit and tie glued to their bodies at all times if they want to be taken seriously is definitely outdated.
Dotcom billionaires led the sartorial revolution years ago. Apple chief executive, Steve Jobs, wore turtlenecks and jeans.
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg favours t-shirts and hoodies – and he's worth over $35 billion. Virgin founder, Richard Branson, is firmly opposed to neckwear.
But Mitchel McLaughlin has some interesting allies in his adherence to tie tyranny. The Duke of Edinburgh was aghast when digital consultant Antony Mayfield showed up at a Buckingham Palace reception last summer in an open-necked shirt. "You can't be very successful, you're not wearing a tie," he quipped.
And Wimbledon's style police denied racing driver Lewis Hamilton entrance to the Royal Box for the men's final because he was tieless. So Mitchel is with the British establishment on this one.
For me, it's more important what a politician has between their ears than around their neck. But Sinn Féin's opponents certainly have reason to rejoice in Mitchel's ruling.
Even if the party hasn't shed all its political baggage, it has dumped its wardrobe. The uncompromising days of denim and duffle coats are well and truly over.
