The spot where the Titanic was built should be declared a World Heritage
Site, according to Titanic enthusiast Terry Madill.
The Belfast civil engineer says he will be preparing a bid to secure World
Heritage Site status and this will be submitted to Unesco in 18 months' time.
The site, at Queen's Island in Belfast, would encompass Titanic landmarks
including the Thompson graving dock, the drawing office and the SS Nomadic,
the tender which carried first-class passengers onto the legendary liner.
Mr Madill says he has been doing the research for the bid and a lot more
work has to go into it before it is complete.
"It's something that would cost nothing - it's only paper - and it
would provide international recognition of the site," he said. "We
are sitting on something that is fantastic here and Unesco is the way
forward."
The self-styled 'Titanorack' has been busy helping mark the 96th anniversary
of Titanic's launch. On Thursday, children stood on the slipway to mark the
exact moment when the ship first launched.
Among them was a girl with the surname Harland - a direct descendant of
Edward Harland.
Children from Grosvenor High School and Aquinas Grammar School interviewed
shipyard veterans and members of the French Titanic Society. Among the
shipyard veterans were two former drawing office 'tracing ladies'.
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