By Mark Simpson BBC Ireland correspondent

The phrase "no surrender" is often used by unionist politicians in Northern Ireland, but now it is the battle cry of the local firefighters.

As the strike began in Belfast and beyond, the resolve of those involved in the pay dispute was there for all to see.

These 50-year-old banana-coloured vehicles look more likely to be involved in an accident, than trying to help those involved in one

With a clenched fist, the local Fire Brigades Union spokesman Jim Barbour addressed the men and women on the picket line of a Belfast city centre fire station with a simple message - "united we stand".

Northern Ireland is no stranger to strong political views, and this fire dispute is no exception.

The one difference between the situation here and the rest of the United Kingdom is the fact Northern Ireland has Yellow Goddesses - not green ones.

Question of colour

This is for security reasons. The ageing fire appliances have been painted non-military yellow in order to make them more acceptable in republican areas where the army are not made welcome.

Troops say vehicles are better than they look

They may be a different colour but they are still very slow. With a maximum speed of 50mph, these 50-year-old banana-coloured vehicles look more likely to be involved in an accident than trying to help those involved in one.

But the 500 soldiers and RAF personnel who have been trained to use them say the vehicles are better than they look.

Barely 20 minutes into the strike and the first Yellow Goddesses were on the streets of Belfast answering an emergency call.

Stoning

Machinery in a city centre leisure centre overheated setting off a fire alarm.

It was the first of more than 100 emergency calls in the province during the first five hours.

One of the more unusual was to Northland Fire Station in Londonderry where youths had set fire to a car the fire service use for training exercises.

Striking firefighters looked on as their military stand-ins arrived to deal with the small blaze.

More worryingly, later in the night in Derry, police were stoned after they accompanied the army to minor incident in the Shantallow area of the city.

It looks like the substitute firefighters in Northern Ireland will have more to worry about than simply putting out fires.