How H&W hit the iceberg

JONATHAN FORD on the opportunism and ineptitude that brought a once-proud industry to its knees

BY THE BANKS OF THE RIVER LAGAN, not far from the centre of Belfast, stands a modernist structure that looks from some angles like the hull of a massive ship. Opened in 2012, the Titanic Experience is one of Northern Ireland’s biggest tourist attractions; a museum dedicated to the story of the world’s most infamous passenger liner. Inside, visitors mill around the cavernous galleries, peering at mock-ups of the doomed ship’s lavish interior, CGI films of the sinking and maquettes of the shipyard that built the mighty vessel. On a patch of quayside just beyond are the remains of the slipway where the construction work was done. The so-called Titanic Quarter was once a bustling shipyard owned by the company that built her, Harland & Wolff. The province’s biggest industrial…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, November 2024

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