IN the end it was ordinary, decent political incompetence, scandal and a heavy whiff of corruption which appears to have brought down devolution in Northern Ireland rather than centuries' old enmities, bombs and bullets.

Ten years have almost passed since Martin McGuinness, the one-time Provisional IRA commander, stood shoulder to shoulder with Ian Paisley, Irish Republicanism's most strident opponent in the last half century, on the steps of Stormont heralding a new era in Northern Ireland.

After decades of 'talks about talks', back channels with names like The Mountain Climber, intense public negotiations, lost lives and seemingly endless grief, power would be shared on a cross community basis. Exercising political control required the consent of 'the other'.

Read more: Martin McGuinness resignation to force snap Assembly election

Perhaps most striking Mr McGuinness and Mr Paisley had a warm relationship, earning the name the "chuckle brothers" following images of them laughing in each other's company.

Ideologically as poles apart as ever, Sinn Fein and the DUP continued with their pragmatic approach to Ulster politics when Peter Robinson succeeded Paisley, even if that spark had gone from the personal dealings at the top. The price of failure was too high.

Ironically it is under Robinson's successor Arlene Foster, who appeared to have put a modernising stamp on a party associated with reactionary politics and evangelical Protestantism, that the rug would be pulled with the resignation of the Deputy First Minister.

Read more: Martin McGuinness to resign as Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland over Renewable Heat Incentive scandal

The catalyst was the Renewable Heating Incentive scandal, which has left Northern Ireland public finances with a hole of £500million.

The simple idea of encouraging Northern Irish businesses to move away from fossil fuels via generous incentives disastrously had no cap on the level of payouts. Mrs Foster was the minister in charge of the scheme's launch and First Minister when it shut. Journalistic investigations have unearthed whistleblowers, warnings and email trails where the DUP refused to close the scheme. Amid demands from across the board for an inquiry Mrs Foster has refused to temporarily stand down, her demeanour in the face of calls belligerent and arrogant.

Just hours after accusing Sinn Fein of "playing chicken" she now has to stand aside or face an angry electorate.

So why did Mr McGuinness quit? Under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement he is effectively joint leader of the Northern Ireland executive. It cannot continue without Sinn Fein.

The responsibility of being a party of government has not always suited Sinn Fein's base support while it has faced accusations of clinging to power for power's sake. The acceptance of welfare reforms have been seen as a factor in a drop in its support, even in heartlands like West Belfast. In the face of mass public anger around the RHI scheme Sinn Fein had to divorce itself from its Unionist partners for its own credibility.

Read more: Martin McGuinness putting politics before principle by quitting, says Arlene Foster

Mr McGuinness's resignation letter also poured out a decade of mounting frustration, accusing the DUP of never fully embracing the Good Friday Agreement, claiming his efforts, including several meetings with the Queen "have not always been reciprocated by unionist leaders" and accusing them of occasionally exhibiting "the most crude and crass bigotry".

“There will be no return to the status quo”, he said. Such definitive phrases do not make for an easy reconciliation.

So what happens now? Mr McGuinness has insisted Sinn Fein will not nominate a replacement for him. After a week the Northern Ireland secretary of state James Brokenshire has to collapse the executive and move towards elections. This would be at the earliest mid February, perhaps as far forward as late March.

There is, I believe, little chance of Northern Ireland reverting back to violence. The UK Government will know this. It will also be focusing all efforts on the small matter of triggering Article 50 and ending the Brexit phoney war. The upshot is Stormont cannot expect the attention Tony Blair once gave the cause of peace and power sharing in Ulster. Without blood and mayhem it is rarely a political priority in Westminster.

An election would also be the first in these islands where the decision to quit the EU, a dividing line within the Executive, would be a factor.

And Mr McGuinness's language blatantly suggests even a hasty retreat by Mrs Foster and a salvaging of the situation is not enough. Power-sharing as we know it needs renegotiated is the Sinn Fein line.

There is a sense of something coming to an end here. Maybe post-conflict politics will give way to something more 'normal' but also more visceral or the sticking plaster of power sharing will be replaced by a robust debate as to what remains at the root of a deeply divided society.

And it may be the presence of Mr McGuinness himself. An ever-present figure in the politics I have known since childhood and one of the pivotal characters in modern Irish history, he is not a well man. His health has become a regular topic in the Belfast media. The expectation was he would stand down in May, on the 10th anniversary of devolution, giving way to a new generation at the top of Sinn Fein.

But for the first time Sinn Fein has walked from power sharing. And also for the first time the North's tribal politics has been brought to a dramatic head by old fashioned political ineptitude.