It is an unfortunate irony that the historic Belfast shipyard of Harland & Wolff is most famous for a single notorious failure: the RMS Titanic.
The doomed White Star Liner has come to symbolise a bygone age and to become a byword for humanity’s hubris. But, notwithstanding that, Harland & Wolff, which when it launched the ‘Unsinkable’ had already been building ships for over a half a century, has gone on to do so to the present day. The area around the Belfast docks may have been rebranded the Titanic Quarter, but in reality it is a place where great successes have been built for over 150 years.
Waterfront launch
Something new and potentially more powerful than even the greatest of ships was launched there again on Saturday. GAFCON Ireland is the latest GAFCON branch1. It was launched at the Waterfront Conference Centre, against the backdrop of the yellow ‘Samson’ and ‘Goliath’ gantry cranes of Harland & Wolff.