How many voters will thank unionist parties for stirring the Drumcree dispute back up again?

The DUP and the TUV must think it is a decisive number, given their grandstanding after the High Court quashed this year’s Parades Commission ruling.

The UUP fell in behind them a day later, so it must fear being left out.

All three parties have called for the commissioners to resign, or be sacked by the secretary of state. Disappointingly, none have referred to giving them their marching orders.

Sarah Creighton: I don’t say this lightly, but the Stormont system needs to go

Tom Kelly: The Parades Commission chair must go – but loyalism’s tantrum squad should shut up too

There are still a range of differences between the parties on whether the commission should be reformed or scrapped entirely, plus some nuances on what should happen in Portadown.

It is entirely in the gift of Portadown’s Orange lodge to bring this to a head during next May’s assembly and council elections - the deadline clearly motivating all three unionist parties.

Parades must usually be notified to the commission between 28 days and 12 months in advance. This year’s Drumcree parade was notified on June 1 and a ruling was issued on June 24, but in the past notifications were submitted one or two months earlier. If next year’s notification is two months earlier, a ruling would be due just before voters head to the polls.

**

Despair at unionist politicking should not let the Parades Commission off the hook. It made a mess of its Drumcree determination, casting doubt over its other rulings - it judged 172 parades sensitive last year and applied restrictions to 142.

The humiliation heaped upon the six commissioners by the court verdict and political reaction also raises the question of who will want to perform these roles in the near future. Appointments are for three years, with one possible three-year extension. Two of the commissioners have served for almost six years; the others for almost three. A turnover is due even if heads hadn’t rolled over........

© The Irish News