'Challenging' Eleventh night for Northern Ireland Fire Service

Northern Ireland's fire service has said it had a "challenging and extremely busy" Eleventh night as wildfires put added pressure on firefighters.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service received 277 emergency calls - more than twice as many as on last year's Eleventh night - between 18:00 and 02:00 BST.

They said 72 of those were bonfire related.

Eleventh night bonfires were lit across Northern Ireland, including at a controversial site off the Donegall Road in south Belfast.

The fires are lit every year as part of celebrations in some unionist areas, ahead of the Orange Order's 12 July parades on Saturday. While most pass off without any controversy, some are contentious.

NIFRS Area Commander Andy Burns said a firefighter had been hit with a bottle in an attack at a bonfire in Lisburn.

"They were not injured and remained on duty," he said.

"This was an isolated incident and not reflective of the support shown to firefighters in carrying out their duties across the evening."

Mr Burns said that in addition to bonfire incidents, firefighters attended a range of emergency calls, including a number of wildfires, with five fire appliances at one at Bloody Bridge, near Newcastle, County Down, which has been extinguished.

NIFRS also attended a three-vehicle road traffic collision in Rathfriland.

"With high temperatures and dry weather this bank holiday weekend, a further period of heightened operational activity is expected over the coming days," he added.

Northern Ireland's Environment Minister Andrew Muir said he was "very disappointed" with the decision to light a bonfire off the Donegall Road in south Belfast, where concerns had been raised due to the presence of asbestos on the site and proximity of an electricity substation that serves two major hospitals.

He said the Northern Ireland Environment Agency had monitored events through the night and would now turn its attention to efforts by the landowner to remove the asbestos pile safely from the site.

Fire service crews were in attendance at the bonfire off the Donegall Road and deployed fire-fighting jets to protect the electrical sub station.

"Our crews were welcomed in and encouraged in by members of the community who provided a lot of support for our crews who were there," the NIFRS's Mr Burns said.

Effigies of rap trio Kneecap were placed on another bonfire in south Belfast. They appeared along with a placard referencing the group.

A banner about the band was placed on a bonfire in Dungannon, County Tyrone.

The band's manager, Daniel Lambert, shared a quote from Kneecap on X, saying that young working-class people in Belfast were "facing the same issues whether they're from the Falls Road or the Shankill".