Editorial: ​Calm is needed after Sinn Fein's Drumcree antics – Northern Ireland can’t go back

​The behaviour of senior Sinn Fein figures over recent days has exacerbated tensions over the Drumcree parade in a way that has been entirely unnecessary – and the consequences for Northern Ireland could be profound.

The party has displayed a selective support for the rule of law, and for the institutions which uphold a democracy it currently leads. This has seriously undermined the credibility of Stormont in the eyes of many.

The issue of a parade down the Garvaghy Road is not one which unites unionists. Many have grave concerns over the strategic wisdom of such a move – and believe the Orange Order should take the moral high ground and withdraw.

While that is unlikely as things stand, it could provide the order – and those unionists who have stood shoulder to shoulder with them – an opportunity to highlight the flagrant hypocrisy of Sinn Fein when it comes to both tolerance and the rule of law.

Persuading anyone of that argument in light of a first minister who sets herself against the law in the manner in which Michelle O’Neill has done this weekend would be nigh on impossible.

She damages not only her credibility, not that many unionists believe she had much, but that of Northern Ireland. What message does it send to potential investors for example that the country’s joint leader is publicly urging defiance of the law?

There is no appetite in unionism for a collapse of the political institutions. However the DUP and UUP will come under sustained pressure over how they are justifying keeping SF ministers - particularly Michelle O’Neill - in post.

Nobody is asking for SF to celebrate an Orange march down the Garvaghy Road, but much greater leadership could and should have been shown. They must repair the damage done by their actions – by backing the rule of law.