Orangemen set off on annual parades

Protestant Orangemen have set off on their annual Twelfth of July parades.

About 100,000 members of the Orange Order are taking part in parades across Northern Ireland commemorating the Battle of the Boyne.

The demonstrations will be addressed by a number of unionist politicians. Ulster Unionist MP Jeffrey Donaldson is due to speak to Lagan Valley Orangemen in Deriaghy.

In Belfast, crowds gathered in the city centre amid tight security to watch the province's largest demonstration as it wound its way to "the field" in Edenderry.

Ballynafeigh Orangemen in the south of the city were blocked by a security barrier from entering the nationalist Lower Ormeau Road.

Another parade feeding into the main Belfast demonstration in the Ardoyne area in the north of the city passed off peacefully.

Sinn Fein had raised objections to the march through the flashpoint area where there was rioting between loyalists and nationalists two weeks ago,

In Derry, Orangemen were expected to protest at a ban on them entering the nationalist Cityside.

They were expected to hand in a letter to the mayor of the city and stage a protest at the Craigavon Bridge, which separates the loyalist Waterside from the West Bank of the city.

Portadown Orangemen were due to take part in the Co Armagh demonstration in Keady.