The North's Police Authority has criticised the RUC for "inaction" in the face of loyalist roadblocks during the Drum cree parades dispute, it emerged last night. Members said they were disappointed with the scale of the response to the disruption.
They were also concerned that public confidence in the RUC may have been damaged by how it was perceived to have handled events.
The authority was told at its monthly meeting that loyalists blocked 1,562 roads in protests against a ban on Orangemen in Portadown marching on the Garvaghy Road. In a statement, the authority said: "Members were concerned that many roads had been blocked and that some main roads had not been kept open."
Deputy Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn was reported to have told the meeting that hard decisions had had to be taken by senior officers on the ground to prevent the protests growing in size and intensity.
Over the Drumcree period there were 224 arrests for public order offences and more charges were expected to follow from examinations of video footage. Police officers came under attack 332 times - including 13 shootings.