Police in Northern Ireland are treating a fire on a boat flying the Irish tricolour as a sectarian hate crime.

According to the Belfast Telegraph, the incident in Portballintrae on the North Coast on Monday evening (3 June) followed the arrest of three men after a fight broke out regarding the vessel.

It’s understood that a man required treatment in hospital for injuries related to the blaze.

The Belfast Telegraph has more on the story HERE.

#WATER SAFETY - The Belfast Telegraph reports that an 11-year-old girl has died in an accident at the seaside near Portballintrae in Co Antrim.

The young girl, who has not yet been named, was taken to hospital in critical condition after getting into difficulties while body-boarding with her family at Bushfoot Strand yesterday afternoon.

Onlookers praised the efforts of the coastguard and bystanders in giving the youngster CPR before paramedics arrived.

However, a passer-by noted that the ambulance had some trouble in finding the access road to the beach - and added that the stretch is known by locals to be unsafe for bathing.

A spokesperson for the Belfast coastguard warned bathers to be wary of strong rip currents which are common on the north coast.