SINN Féin is to run three of its MPs, Chris Hazzard, Pat Cullen and Paul Maskey, in the Assembly election next May.

The move shows how much of a ‘Bryson bounce’ the party is expecting over Drumcree and how determined it is to seize that opportunity after its recent drop in the polls.

Will nationalist voters still be exercised about Drumcree by next May? They will if the strategic geniuses of unionism keep agitating over it, as they show every intention of doing.

The DUP leadership has stood up to the TUV over collapsing Stormont and also warned parade organisers to submit notifications. But advising Portadown Orangemen to give up on a Garvaghy Road parade remains beyond it.

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The only sign of a Sinn Féin misstep has been hamming up its response to voluntary interview letters from the PSNI, regarding attendance at the Garvaghy Road protest.

Theatrical martyrdom over the risk of small fines is an invitation to ridicule.

But by complying with the investigation, Sinn Féin should ultimately make unionists look ridiculous for creating a drama over trivial offences – assuming anyone is convicted or even prosecuted, which is far from guaranteed.

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Policing Drumcree has now cost £5.5 million, an appalling waste of an objectively enormous sum. However, the number of people saying this money could have gone to health instead reveals how poorly public spending is understood.

Running the health service in Northern Ireland costs £1 million an hour. The PSNI’s entire budget, the third-largest item in Stormont’s budget, would only keep it going for five weeks.

Adding £5.5 million to health’s........

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