Concern has been voiced about the appearance of threatening graffiti at a republican bonfire site in north Belfast.

Belfast City Council abandoned an attempt to demolish the bonfire in east Belfast when hired private contractors pulled out of the job after menacing threats were daubed on walls close to the site, purporting to identify them.

Firefighters saw a "significant decrease" in the number of emergency calls due to loyalist bonfires in Northern Ireland at the start of the Twelfth of July festivities.

Masked loyalists appear to have broken a court order banning them from extending an Eleventh night bonfire in Belfast.

Some people in remote areas of the North may have to wait until early next week before their water supplies are restored, Northern Ireland Water said today.