Bonfires will be lit across Northern Ireland at midnight tonight as loyalists celebrate the Twelfth, a centuries-old celebration of the Protestant victory over the Roman Catholic Jacobite army.

This year, however, instead of the traditional “boney”, as the bonfires are called, some revellers will be using an eco-friendly, carbon-neutral beacon. Six were set up by Belfast City Council yesterday as part of its bonfire-management programme. The beacons are steel pyramids, filled with willow, woodchips and based on sand. Each will burn fiercely but safely for up to two hours.

It’s a far cry from the classic Twelfth bonfire, for which construction begins as early as April when rival Protestant districts compete to have the biggest. Northern Ireland suffers a pallet shortage during the early summer, but tyres, old sofas and anything combustible will do. As the night before the Twelfth approaches, security is stepped up, with attempts made by competitors either to torch their rivals’ efforts early or to steal their wood. If the weather is fine, children have been known to sleep in them as an extra, if terrifying, security precaution.

The Village area of South Belfast has more of an image problem than usual, with the flight of more than a hundred Romanian Roma families after racist attacks. Local loyalists hope that their eco-friendly beacon will help to clean up their image.

“It saves a lot of grief for residents because it removes a lot of the problems of fly-tipping rubbish around the bonfire site and attracting kids with blue bags full of drink,” said Colin Patton, a local organiser.

“This area didn’t come out too well from the racist attacks and I think this is a positive statement from the loyalist community about how they want to celebrate their culture in a safe way,” said David Robinson, Belfast City Council’s Good Relations Officer who is overseeing the beacons project.

“We are trying to get people to reconnect with the cultural significance of the occasion. Beacons were lit in the late 17th century in Ireland to herald the arrival of King Billy,” he said, referring to William of Orange who defeated the Jacobite forces at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

But not everybody is happy with the new-style beacons, which will be lit tonight in the Lower Shankill, Woodvale, Tiger’s Bay, Ballysillan and White City.

“That’s ****ing desperate, so it is,” complained one elderly resident. “It’s a wigwam, for ***’s sake, it’ll not last ten minutes. Whoever thought this up should be ***ing put on it.” Mr Patton smiled and said: ”Some people don’t like change.” The city council is giving the area a £1500 grant to fund a children’s street party as part of the beacon project.

But re-imaging the Twelfth of July celebrations into “Orangefest” as Europe’s largest outdoor festival is not an easy task.

Last year there were 86 bonfires alone in Belfast and the vast majority will follow traditional lines this year, which means in many cases that when set alight they will be adorned with the flag of the Republic of Ireland.

The council calculates that cleaning up after the big night costs some £5,000 per bonfire. Its beacons, on the other hand, cost £8,000 to purchase but can be re-used five times and cause no environmental damage.

A few minutes from the Village beacon youngsters were guarding their bonfire, a towering pre-inferno of pallets within feet of one of Belfast’s major hospitals. The young men were not impressed by the prospect of having their bonfires provided by the authorities.

“Where’s the fun in that?” said one of the guards.

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