The abstract problem

How to best import a package that may or may not import successfully during the run of a tkinter program, say on a button press.

At the moment I am using:

def ButtonFunction(self):

    try:
         import package
    except Exception as e: 
         print(e)  # I don't want the execution to stop if this cannot be imported. 

Is this the best way to go about it? Is there any issue with importing packages within a function call?

The specific problem

I'm using CiruitPython to communicate with an MCP2221 board but the import only works if the board is connected. I want the program to still work if the board is not connected and a way for the user to connect the board after the program has started.

The specific code:

def _init_hardware(self):
        try:    
            # Set an Environment Variable so Adafruit Blinka knows we're using the MCP2221
            os.environ["BLINKA_MCP2221"] = "1"
            import board
            import busio
        except:
            raise RuntimeError('Could not initialise Circuit Python. Check hardware is plugged in.')

Specifically board and busio will not import if there is no board detected so I have moved this code from where all the other imports are to the function which initialises all the hardware.