VJ Day commemorations held across Northern Ireland

The Red Arrows pass over The Titanic Quarter in Belfast

Events took place across Northern Ireland on Saturday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VJ Day.

The day commemorates victory over Japan, which finally brought World War Two to an end.

A national two-minute silence was observed during a socially-distanced memorial event at Belfast City Hall at 11:00 BST.

A wreath-laying ceremony also took place at the Northern Ireland War Memorial Museum.

The RAF Red Arrows were seen over Belfast at 14:00 as part of a national flypast.

Lord Mayor of Belfast Frank McCoubrey lays a wreath at the Cenotaph at Belfast City Hall

Belfast Lord Mayor Frank McCoubrey laid a wreath at the Cenotaph after the Last Post was played by a bugler.

A national two-minute silence was observed at Belfast City Hall.

Afterwards, Mr McCoubrey said it was frustrating that health restrictions had prevented the occasion being marked with a major event, but said it was important to avoid mass gatherings.

"We're in difficult times at the moment and there wasn't very many people here but I think it was very, very important that we came out and remembered those who sacrificed their lives to give us our freedom," he said.

A piper also played outside Hillsborough Castle early on Saturday morning.

• What is VJ Day?

• UK commemorates 75th anniversary of VJ Day

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From Belfast City Hall: Mervyn Jess, BBC News NI

The number of people at Belfast Cenotaph was modest but Covid restrictions played a part in that.

City councillors lined up beside the memorial as the Lord Mayor led them in the short act of remembrance.

Elizabeth Montgomery placed a small cross at the memorial in memory of her father who fought in the Chindits in the jungles of Burma

She said it was emotional and brought back memories of her dad.

In County Fermanagh, a lone piper played Battle's O'er at Enniskillen Castle at dawn ahead of a scheduled service in the grounds of Enniskillen Royal Grammar School.

Of the 50 former pupils who were killed in the conflict, eight died in East Asia.

First Minister Arlene Foster, who attended the service, said it had been "lovely" that some of the veterans had been able to attend because many could not join in VE Day due to lockdown.

"Obviously, we've been making sure that they've been safe and socially distancing, but of course this was the end of the war, in reality - in VJ day - and it's been very important to mark it here in Enniskillen," she said.

From Fermanagh: Julian Fowler, BBC News NI

Tommy McBrien, pictured on the left, outside his home in Enniskillen in 1946

Among six WW2 veteran guests in Enniskillen was 100-year-old Tommy McBrien who served in East Asia.

He joined the RAF in 1939 to serve as an electrician and was based in Singapore.

He said he was "one of the lucky ones" who got out of Singapore just 24 hours before the Japanese invasion in 1941.

WW2 veteran Tommy McBrien was one of a number of soldiers from Northern Ireland who served in East Asia during the war

"I felt incredibly lucky and relieved to be evacuated, who knows how things might have turned out if I had been captured or wounded as many were," he said.

Tommy McBrien pictured with his medals at Enniskillen Royal Grammar School

Other guests include relatives of the late Tommy Fisher who founded Fisher Engineering in Ballinamallard, County Fermanagh.

He also served in the RAF in Singapore but he was not so lucky.

First Minister Arlene Foster speaks to the sons of Tommy Fisher at Enniskillen Royal Grammar School

Having been moved to Java, he was on a train heading for a ship bound for Australia when it was ambushed by Japanese paratroopers.

Tommy Fisher was on his way to Australia when the train he was on was ambushed by Japanese paratroopers

He returned to Singapore as a prisoner of war before being taken to Japan, where he was sent to work in a copper mine.

In August 1945, he recalled seeing the vapour trails of American planes and hearing explosions around the time of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima.

On 28 August 1945, an American bomber dropped leaflets, one of which his family still has, informing the prisoners that the Japanese government had surrendered.

Many Americans were based in County Fermanagh during WW2 and those links will be recalled when a United States Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, a modified Boeing 737, flies over Enniskillen at 12:00 BST.