ALL POLITICS is local and in Northern Ireland this is true to the power of 10. Who walks where, for example, is one local issue which threatens to blow the society apart.

Northern Ireland's local councils used to be much more numerous and have far greater powers but that changed with the rise of the civil rights movement.

Decades of nationalist complaints about unionist abuse of power finally led to drastic local government reform as proposed in the "Macrory plan of 1970. The number of local authorities was reduced from 66 to 26 and these were given only minimal powers.

Abuses in the allocation of houses by unionist dominated councils had already led to the establishment of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. Education, library and health services became the responsibility of area boards where the majority of members were government nominees.

The Macrory revolution and the prorogation of Stormont have left Northern politicians with a set of local bodies whose functions are summed up as "burials, bins and that's about it". The councils may have little or no power but as one representative put it: "They are what we've got." The council is the only forum where Northern Ireland politicians of both traditions meet and debate and take decisions that have some practical relevance.

The councils are also a dry run for possible future assemblies with a wider remit. For example, Mr Gerry Adams likes to point out that Sinn Fein councillors suffered severe harassment when they first took their seats but now their presence is more or less accepted: his message is that it would be the same in all party talks.

THE shape of things to come can be seen, perhaps, in the rotation between nationalists and unionists of the mayor and deputy mayor positions on Derry City Council. The results of next week's poll may open up a similar possibility in Belfast.

The big question in the North's major city is whether unionist domination will be broken. At present 27 of the council's 51 seats are held by unionists including the UUP, DUP, Progressive Unionist Party and Independents with 24 nonunionists, including the SDLP, Sinn Fein and Alliance.

A swing of two seats would give a majority to nonunionists for the first time and could usher in some type of power sharing in the allocation of committee chairs and the positions of lord mayor and deputy lord mayor.

This doesn't mean the Tricolour would be flying over City Hall but it would be a telling psychological blow to unionism to lose control of the capital city of Northern Ireland.

The loyalist Progressive Unionist Party could be the kingmakers of the reconstituted council next month. The former lord mayor, Mr Hugh Smyth, is already a member and Mr David Ervine and Mr Billy Hutchinson are thought to have a good chance of joining him. Mr Ervine and Mr Hutchinson are seen as two of the most creative politicians in the Northern Ireland peace process and seats on the council will give them an opportunity to show how that creativity works on the level of grassroots practical politics.

The Ulster Democratic Party is also running candidates and the vote will give an indication of the relative standing of the two parties in the loyalist community.

The Westminster election was seen as a success for the main unionist party which gained an extra seat while its rivals in the DUP went from three to two seats. Of course, the DUP stood aside to allow the UUP a clear run in West Tyrone where Mr William Thompson was able to take advantage of nationalist division. The local poll will give a more accurate reflection of the relative standing of the parties and of Mr Robert McCartney's UK Unionist Party.

Sinn Fein is expected to consolidate the advances it made in the Westminster poll and last year's Forum elections. The local elections are conducted under proportional representation and after the 1993 poll, Mr Adams complained that if more nationalists had made better use of PR then his party would have secured 72 seats instead of 51.

AS IN the Westminster poll, Sinn Fein gains will not necessarily mean SDLP losses. However, SDLP sources said Sinn Fein received a "hard vote" which turned out for all elections, whereas SDLP supporters placed a higher premium on the Westminster poll. Claiming that the "unionists and Sinn Fein are equally tribal in their politics, the SDLP offers its own vision of partnership and powersharing between the two traditions without triumphalism, whether green or orange.

On the eve of the Westminster poll there were dire predictions that the Alliance Party vote was about to collapse and that the knives were out for the party leader, Lord Alderdice. This must have been wishful thinking on someone's part because it failed to materialise and Alliance sources are confident of a good showing in next week's poll. The performance of the parties generally lumped together as "others", such as the Workers Party, the Women's Coalition and the Greens will also be watched for evidence that a new, third tradition, neither unionist nor nationalist, might at last be emerging in the North.

There have been hints from New Labour that some powers might be returned to the councils in the North, e.g., on town planning. The UUP wants increased powers for local bodies but the SDLP opposes the idea except as part of an overall package or settlement in the North. This is an issue which all parties will be watching carefully.

Despite their lack of powers, the councils have had access to considerable funds, e.g., from the European Union's peace and reconciliation programme, and this has given them a new importance. Domestic rates are still a feature of life in the North and the councils are entitled to put some of that income towards economic development purposes.

One of the imponderables in these elections is voter fatigue. Northern Ireland has just come through a seemingly interminable general election next week will show if voters can muster the interest and the energy to face the polling booths again.