The past week should remind us how shaky the North’s political institutions can be. The Parades Commission conceded a legal challenge in the North’s High Court. This was due to the banning of the Orange Drumcree March in Portadown. Then Andy Burnham said any referendum on Irish unity is ‘off the table’. Then the Chief Executive of DUP-controlled Mid and East Antrim Council has been convicted for deleting e-mails to obstruct a Freedom of Information request. Anne Donaghy is a Catholic, but seen as very close to the DUP. The Parades Commission conceding on Drumcree does not mean a march will go ahead. Rather, the Commission will have to consider the matter again. The Parades Commission accepted they had not gone through the full legal requirements. One member of the Parades Commission has already resigned. At time of writing, it is possible others may go.
