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Date: 15/04/2019 | Ref. 799290
Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th April 2019
Titanic Commemoration Service takes place at City Hall today remembering lost lives of tragedy
Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Deirdre Hargey, joined Susie Millar, President of the Belfast Titanic Society to lay a wreath at the Titanic Memorial in City Hall grounds today, in memory of those who died aboard the RMS Titanic.
Marking the 107th anniversary of the tragedy, the service was conducted by the Reverend Ian Gilpin, Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church in Comber, with the Lord Mayors Chaplain, Reverend Karen Sethuraman, saying a short prayer. Master of Ceremonies was Dr Aidan McMichael, Chairman of Belfast Titanic Society.
The Lord Mayor said: The tragedy of the Titanic is very close to home for the people of Belfast. Many of our citizens were on board when she went down and are remembered by relatives who have gathered with us to mark this occasion.
The Olympic-class ocean liner was one of our finest, built by local craftsmen and remembered across the world for her top class design and engineering. The tragedy cast a cloud on our city and it says much for our resilience that we have found a way to deal with the loss, building a poignant Memorial Garden in the City Hall grounds and our new Titanic Quarter regenerating the former shipbuilding heart of the city which we can all be proud, added Councillor Hargey.
Dr McMichael said: "The Titanic Memorial Garden at Belfast City Hall is a fitting backdrop to the annual Titanic Commemoration Service held each year on the 15th April. This year marks the 107th anniversary since the loss of RMS Titanic. As we in Belfast continue to develop the story of design, construction and launch of RMS Titanic, the Ship of Dreams, the Titanic Memorial Service remains a special time to remember all those who were lost in the tragedy".
Invited guests to the Commemoration Service included members of Belfast Titanic Society and relatives of some of those on board RMS Titanic who also laid a white rose at the Titanic Memorial Gardens memorial plinth to remember loved ones.
The Titanic Memorial Garden commemorates the 1,512 men, women and children who died on the RMS Titanics maiden voyage in the early hours of 15 April 1912. The gardens memorial plinth supports bronze plaques which list, in alphabetic order, the names of those lives that were lost.
For more information on the garden, visit the council website at http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/tourism-venues/cityhall/titanicmemorialgardens.aspx
ENDS
ISSUED BY CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS, BELFAST CITY COUNCIL
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Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com
