THERE is a difference between civil disobedience and setting yourself above the law.

Sinn Féin may need to make that distinction clearer over its attendance at the Garvaghy Road protest.

Mary Lou McDonald has said her party will “of course” cooperate with the police investigation. First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said if she is prosecuted “so be it”.

Both statements acknowledge the rule of law and should head off an immediate political crisis.

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But Ms O’Neill has also told the Assembly “when the law is wrong, I will stand firmly against it”.

That appears to cross the line. The position of most critics of a Garvaghy Road parade is that the Parades Commission determination is wrong, not the law.

Residents are using the law to challenge the determination. The same law governs parades and counter-protests, so if the first minister can declare it ‘wrong’, anyone on both sides of all parading disputes might feel entitled to do the same.

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Respect for the law from politicians is a vital principle but what has changed the parades issue in practice is the declaration by the chief constable, Jon Boutcher, that upholding a Parades Commission determination “does not come at any cost”.

Mr Boutcher said this at the Policing Board while explaining why protesters had not been removed from the Garvaghy Road.

While some unionists have accused him of surrendering to mob rule, the chief constable’s position is merely one of proportionality: nothing is at stake in a parade and peaceful protest that warrants physical intervention by officers.

The law can still be enforced through prosecutions and fines after keeping everyone apart.

Attitudes and tactics among marchers and........

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