By John Knox BBC Scotland political correspondent

"We must move in before we can move on."

MSPs are leaving The Mound behind

That was Presiding Officer George Reid's verdict on the new Holyrood building saga a few months ago.

Now we must move out before we can move in.

But when you have just spent �431m on a new parliament, it is a little embarrassing to realise that a parliament is not a building at all but an event.

The council of the clan chiefs met in a deerskin tent, or on a beach, or in a series of draughty castles.

The new parliament has met in such hired venues as the old Glasgow High School, Aberdeen University and the Edinburgh Festival Hub Hall.

But it will undoubtedly be a wrench to move out of its semi-permanent home, the Church of Scotland's Assembly Hall.

The steps worn away by generations of clergymen and Kirk elders have been eroded for the last five years by the new-style representatives of the people.

Its high-beamed ceiling has sheltered MSPs through many a long debate and historic moment.

There was the "reconvening" of the parliament by Winnie Ewing after 300 years.

There was the opening by the Queen.

The reconvened parliament was opened by the Queen in 1999

There were those swearing in ceremonies, with Socialists singing songs and holding up palms declaring "my oath is to the people".

There have been moments of real tragedy, the death of founding father Donald Dewar. And moments of farce, the resignation of Henry McLeish.

There have been moments of triumph, the passing of the bill granting free personal care to the elderly, one of just 71 bills passed by the parliament in its first five years.

There have been moments of political tension, when the executive was defeated on aid to the fishing fleet.

There have been moments of history, when Thabu Mbeki came to address the parliament to thank Scotland for its support during the long years of apartheid.

There have been great speeches - and the most awful haverings.

There have been speeches from the heart and much, much more bureau babble.

So there are fond memories. But I do not know anyone who will not be glad to shake the dust from their feet.

Because unfortunately, parliament is not just an event, it is a process.

Donald Dewar was Scotland's first First Minister

And having committee rooms and offices and 460 parliamentary staff scattered through half a dozen buildings at the head of the Royal Mile has been democratically awkward.

The committee rooms are Victorian splendours, old county council buildings, all dark wood panelling and cheap chandeliers.

There are few seats for the public. The rooms are hot and stuffy. They do not adapt well to microphones and the proceedings are often inaudible.

MSPs and their staff have spent the last five years in open plan offices in one of the ugliest buildings in Edinburgh, a 60s carbuncle on the corner of the Royal Mile and George IV Bridge.

They will be changing those for individual "monks cells" in the new building, complete with TV set and refrigerator.

We, the press, have spent the last five years in an old Lawnmarket tenement, which was once a police office.

It has been infested with mice ever since the day when my colleague, the late Kenny Macintyre, encountered one on the spiral staircase on the way in.

But the old places have their charms too.

The new building is nearing completion

The 18th century terraces, closes and court-yards of the Royal Mile are magical on a day of slanting sunshine.

There's a secret Masonic Lodge above the Deacon Brodie caf�.

The Lawnmarket's cobbled street is normally crowded with tourists and buskers and the shops overflow with kilts and Scottish rugby shirts and Hey-Jimmy hats.

We have seen an endless stream of demonstrations...for and against fox hunting, school children against the war in Iraq, nursery nurses singing for a pay rise and the Scottish Opera chorus singing for survival.

Hopefully the demonstrations will follow us down the road to the new building.

As, we hope, will the tourists. But it would be nice if some of the pipers stayed behind.

The new parliament is expected to attract 700,000 visitors in its first year.

That compares with 30,000 who went through the visitor centre at the old parliament last year.

MSP Rosie Kane makes her protest

I wonder if the two Leith sisters, Isa Scott and Dorothy Sutherland, will grace the public gallery in the new parliament every day, as they have for the last five years in the assembly building?

And I wonder if they will continue to be so scathing of what they see and hear.

The disillusionment over devolution has not just been caused by the expense of the new building but by the goings on in the old one.

The four self proclaimed aims of the Scottish Parliament have not been lived up to, yet...accessibility, accountability, equal opportunities and the sharing of power.

Yes, you can get into the public gallery but you cannot clap or cheer and the security checks are pretty off-putting and, I would argue, unnecessary.

Yes, you can petition the parliament but it is unlikely to lead to any changes.

Yes, there are more women in parliament (50 out of 129) but there are no representatives from the ethnic minorities.

The next stop for MSPs is Holyrood

And, as for the sharing of power, Labour has been forced to share a little of its power with the Liberal Democrats but not a lot.

And devolution to Edinburgh has not yet led to a trickle down effect for local authorities.

Not many politicians seem to realise this but the parliament really only comes to life when it is an event not a process.

We are talking here about first minister's question time at noon on Thursdays or about crucial votes like fishing or GM crops or the debate on the Iraq war, or statements to parliament after a tragedy, like the death of Donald Dewar or the Rosepark nursing home fire.

Then the parliament, like the Kirk Assembly before it, becomes the nation. And for a moment, we feel a patriotic pride.

I hope MSPs carry that sense of "event" with them when they walk down the Royal Mile from the old parliament to the new on official opening day, 9 October.