The nasty protests of recent weeks and the antics of Sinn Féin in the Dáil have given the Irish electorate a glimpse of the kind of politics that lies in store if there is a complete stalemate after the next election.
A series of opinion polls have shown the three established parties, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Labour, currently commanding the support of only half the electorate, with the other half divided between Sinn Féin and an array of smaller parties and Independents.
An election result along similar lines would make the formation of a stable government almost impossible, and would probably lead to another general election within six months or so.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny echoed the apprehensions of many in the mainstream parties when he warned on Thursday about the economic consequences of the kind of political instability that gripped the country in the 1981-1982 period when there were three elections in 18 months and the economy went off the rails.
Of course such an outcome would be grist to the mill for the variety of forces who sense that the current political instability represents an opportunity for a radical realignment of Irish politics.
There is nothing inevitable about such an outcome. For a start it should be remembered that opinion polls in the summer and autumn of 2010 put Labour well ahead of Fine Gael and even precipitated a leadership heave in Fine Gael.
Positions reversed
Yet when it came to the crunch in February 2011 the positions were reversed and Fine Gael won almost twice as many votes and more than twice the number of seats as Labour.
The polls six months out from the election had Labour in the lead because the party, and particularly its then leader Eamon Gilmore, were the most vociferous voices on the opposition benches. When voters were faced with the responsibility of choosing a government other factors came into play.
The other point is that the prospect of serious political instability, and the likely consequences for the living standards of the Irish people, has been clearly signposted well in advance of the election. Voters will go into the polling booths in a year or more with their eyes wide open.
Still, what they will do is impossible to predict, and there is undoubtedly a sense of recklessness in the air in which any kind of outcome is possible.
That recklessness has pervaded the political system and not only on the Opposition side of the Dáil. There are signs of a loss of nerve among elements of Fine Gael, with some TDs rumoured to be plotting the overthrow of Kenny before they face into the election.
An anti-Kenny faction has persisted in Fine Gael all through his 12-year leadership. It has been augmented over the past couple of years by newly-elected TDs who were initially impatient for promotion and are now fearful of losing their seats.
The middle ground of the party is still with the leader but he will need to re-establish the control of the political agenda that marked his first three years in office to quell potential discontent. He has made a start on that in recent days by trying to get the focus of political debate on to the economy where the Government has genuine achievements to its credit. He will have his work cut out to keep it there for the next year or so in the face of his own doubting Thomases and the enmity of a section of the media which has consistently sought to denigrate him.
The Labour Party has already made its last throw of the dice by changing its leader last summer. Tánaiste Joan Burton has improved the mood music in the party but its TDs know they will be lucky if half of them survive the election.
They desperately need 2015 to be a year in which the Government avoids the stupid mistakes that cost it dear in 2014, but for that they are dependent on their Coalition partners.
Burton has proved to be a formidable performer in the Dáil as evidenced by her most recent spat with Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald on Thursday. What the episode showed was that while Sinn Féin can dish out the political abuse it can’t take it when it is returned in the same vein.
While Labour may have learned how to deal with Sinn Féin in the Dáil, competing on the ground is another matter. It seems large swathes of urban working class estates have been lost and there is little chance of recovering them quickly .
Hinterland
Fianna Fáil too has lost a significant segment of its traditional base to Sinn Féin, and badly needs to get out into its former working class hinterland if it is to make a significant recovery.
While the party has recovered ground outside Dublin, the capital, where it has no Dáil seats, is still almost a no-go area, and it will take a huge effort just to recover three or four next time around.
Sinn Féin will make political gains, the only question being how substantial they will be, but the wild card of the election will be the performance of smaller parties and Independents.
A heady mix of Shane Ross, various Trotskyite factions, former Fine Gael and Labour TDs and Independents of every hue will decide the shape of the next government unless there is a significant swing back to the established parties in the next 12 months.
Kenny has started his campaign to win back the middle ground but there is a long hard road in front of him.