[gaea]

Originally Posted by Ciaran

The stigma was all too real for many years. Although the design and build of The Titanic was likely nothing to do with its sinking, many accusations were made at the time and in subsequent years.

The sinking of The Titanic was of great sadness for the City but it also damaged the City's pride. It is said to have mentally scarred the lives of many of those workers who, rightly or wrongly, felt partly responsible for the disaster. It is said that many took this sense of guilt to their graves.

It's only very recently that, as a people, we've embraced our Titanic heritage and, in part, it's because sufficient time has passed which fades the pain. In fact, I think it's largely because those who worked on The Titanic are now all dead and most of their sons and daughters are dead too so, which we can now celebrate / commemorate that heritage, we don't have the pain of some of our forefathers.


When The Titanic left Belfast in 1912, it was a confident and outward looking industrial powerhouse (Belfast was where the United States established their second overseas consultate / embassy).

However, it was also a time of significant sectarian conflict in the City between Protestants and Roman Catholics. Five months after The Titanic's sinking, more than 440,000 Protestant adults signed the Ulster Covenant at Belfast City Hall, effectively renouncing any form of Irish rule in Belfast, an incredible number given the adult population of the province was considerably less than one million.





Yes, I'm rather biased as I love Belfast so much but it's an incredibly warm and hospitable city that is very definitely worthy of a visit. The Titantic Visitor Centre looks very impressive from the outside and has received excellent reviews. When I last returned to Belfast two weeks ago, it had yet to open but I'm looking forward to visiting it on my next trip home.

this is so interesting to me.