The North’s first minister Michelle O’Neill has said Stormont communities minister Gordon Lyons should resign over a social media post sent hours before an attack on Larne Leisure Centre. Mr Lyons has faced criticism over a social media post about the location of immigrant families who fled their homes.

Disorder has broken out in Northern Ireland for the third successive night, after police said people are "waking up with genuine fear for their lives" following two nights of violence in Ballymena and other areas.

Masked youths attacked a leisure centre and set it on fire as violence spread to other towns in Northern Ireland.

Prior to the fire, Gordon Lyons posted on social media that the leisure centre had been used to accommodate several people following riotous behaviour in the town of Ballymena

A number of projectiles have been launched at police in Ballymena, including petrol bombs and fireworks in another night of violence in the town.

In Ballymena on Wednesday, the PSNI deployed riot police for a third night in a row as hundreds gathered around the Clonavon Terrace area. At least one protester was struck by plastic baton rounds fired by police while officers also used a water cannon on the crowd.

Three teenagers aged 18, 17 and 15 are charged with rioting, as the attack on Larne Leisure Centre, 25 minutes away, follows a third night of violence in Ballymena.

Fires have been started and windows smashed in at the Larne Leisure Centre in Co Antrim amid ongoing disturbance in Northern Ireland.