Rebekah WilsonBBC News NI
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The main Belfast parade started its march from north Belfast
Crowds lined the streets of cities, towns and villages all over Northern Ireland to attend Twelfth of July parades.
Thousands of Orange Order members take part in the annual marches to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
The event is also a celebration of Protestant traditions and Ulster-Scots heritage.
Members of local Orange lodges were joined on parade by visiting lodges from Scotland and further afield.
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Members of Sister Clarke Memorial lodge in Scotland take part in Belfast parade
Twelfth of July parades held in scorching sunshine
The main parade in Belfast set off from the Orange hall at Clifton Street in north Belfast.
Parades also took place in various parts of Northern Ireland including Coleraine, Dromara and Augher.
Northern Ireland Office Minister Fleur Anderson and Deputy First Minister Emma-Little Pengelly attended events in Keady, County Armagh.
Fleur Anderson (left) and Emma-Little Pengelly with the Orange Order’s grand secretary the Reverend Mervyn Gibson
The grand secretary of the Orange Order, the Reverend Mervyn Gibson, who was also in Keady, said the lead up to the Twelfth had been “tremendous”.
Asked about the Eleventh night and bonfires he said: “99% of everything passed off wonderfully.
“Today couldn’t be a better day for it, the sun is shining and the bands are playing loud, it’s just been a great Twelfth of July.”
Edward Stevenson, grand master of the Orange Lodge of Ireland, said it had been “another momentous Twelfth with the largest crowds witnessed for a generation”.
He said there had been “a huge level of support with a
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