Nationalist politicians have accused the RUC of failing to protect the community and turning a blind eye to loyalist violence during the Drumcree protests.
Condemning the Orange Order protests, an SDLP Assembly member, Mr Sean Farren, said: "Who do these people think they are? Why have the RUC simply al lowed them to close the place down?
"Why are people who are burning cars, closing roads, intimidating the citizens of Northern Ireland, allowed to do so, often in full view of police?"
Mr Farren said the Orange Order was behaving disgracefully. "How can civil and religious liberty be safeguarded by denying an entire region its freedom to move around, to shop, to visit friends, to live normally?" he asked.
The most damning aspect of the situation was the resignation of people to it and the fact that many felt they had to leave the North for the Twelfth.
"The empty towns, the empty roads and empty heads which characterise this time of year in Northern Ireland are an indictment of our society and this situation just cannot go on," he said. Other political problems in the North had been solved through dialogue.
The RUC yesterday insisted it was behaving impartially. Chief Supt Brian McCargo said officers were engaged in a "fine balancing act" of allowing peaceful protest and enforcing the law without further aggravating the circumstances.
The Minister of Education, Mr Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein, said there was disgust among nationalists at the RUC's response to the loyalist protests. The force was clearly standing back and was prepared to "effectively consort with the protesters and collaborate with the closure of roads".
This was in stark contrast to the RUC's reaction to republican demonstrators in previous years. Mr McGuinness predicted that the Drumcree protests would end as they had no support.
"It is very clear that very little support has manifested itself on the street except for the hijackings, burnings and intimidations that have taken place. I believe all of this is futile, that it will peter our eventually."
It was "highly significant" that the Rev Ian Paisley and his colleagues had distanced themselves from events. "They know this is a PR disaster of incredible proportions," he added. The DUP leader knew "that at the end of the day if people lose their lives the responsibility for that is going to go straight back to the doors of people within his party who would support such protests".
The Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr Patrick Walsh, warned that Northern Ireland was in danger of sliding into anarchy as the Drumcree protests continued.
"What is happening across the whole of Northern Ireland is intolerable. We are in danger of sliding into anarchy. Entire communities are being harassed and intimidated and many families are living in dread," he said.