Near and far – Titanic’s enduring legacy

SPECIAL commemorative services, vigil marches and the opening of a £77 million visitors’ centre are among the events marking the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

An inter-faith remembrance service in Belfast, where the ship was built, on 15 April, is expected to draw hundreds, if not thousands, of people. A memorial garden will be unveiled at the site where bronze plaques bear the names of those who lost their lives.

This will be the culmination of days of festivities and remembrance which began last Saturday with the opening of Titanic Belfast, a towering visitor attraction overlooking the slipways and featuring a replica of the ship’s famous staircase for business guests, plus four floors of exhibitions for day-trippers.

A light show will be held at the slipways today, and next Saturday MTV will present Titanic Sounds at Titanic Belfast. Olly Murs and Sean Paul will be among the performers.

On the night of the sinking on 14 April there will be a requiem for the lost passengers and crew of the Titanic at St Anne’s Church of Ireland Cathedral in the city centre, followed by a candle-lit procession to the memorial garden at Belfast City Hall.

In the nearby Waterfront Hall, there will be a commemoration in music and film, featuring the story of the legendary liner, those who built her and those who died.

The following morning will see the 100th anniversary service in Belfast City Hall involving an orchestra and male voice choirs. The Titanic Memorial Garden will be officially opened following the service.

That afternoon, there will be another requiem at the Catholic St Peter’s Cathedral in Belfast and a commemoration at St Anne’s, following which clergy and guests will walk the short distance to the Titanic graving dock where the vessel was built.

On 22 April, the MAC arts centre in Belfast will open its doors for the first time with a production of Scenes from the British Wreck Commissioners’ Inquiry, 1912. The cast will retell the survivors’ story with dialogue from the 100-year-old testimonies.

A bronze statue has also been launched of three “yardmen” who built the Titanic at Harland and Wolff shipyard, in east Belfast, with the cranes of the shipyard visible in the background.

The new Titanic Belfast tourism project was opened to the public last Saturday. Among those attending was 105-year-old Cyril Quigley, who saw the Titanic being launched as a young child in 1911.

Meanwhile, an exhibition complete with interactive touch screens will go on display in the US on Thursday at the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut.