Nigerian Times

Centenary is commemorated by TITANICa: The Exhibition & The People’s Story Belfast, May 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Belfast is set to mark the 100th anniversary of the launch of one of the city’s most famous creations – RMS Titanic. On May 31st 1911, Titanic was launched into Belfast Lough by Harland & Wolff – then the largest shipyard in the world. It took three years to build and just 62 seconds to complete the launch. To mark the occasion, there will be a special slipway event attended by the Lord Mayor of Belfast, dignitaries of Cherbourg and Titanic societies to reflect Belfast’s maritime heritage. There will also be a flare set-off to mark the moment exactly 100 years ago when the Titanic was launched. With a £7bn investment in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter and interactive visitor centre due to be unveiled in 2012, Tourism Ireland is keen to share the wonderful history of the Titanic through this programme of fantastic events. On 31st May 2011, The Ulster Folk & Transport Mus...

As Queen Elizabeth 2 ends her own first visit to Ireland, President Barack Obama begins his own. President Barack Obama He will be one of eight hundred thousand Americans expected to travel to Ireland this year, but his is perhaps the most historic one, because he is actually going back to his ancestral roots. Yes, Barack Obama is also Irish. Most people know him as a native of Honolulu, Hawaii, whose mother Ann Dunham Stanley came from Wichita, Kansas of mostly English descent with the roots of her family tree going as far back as Germany, Wales and of course Ireland where Obama will be welcomed with open arms in Moneygall, County Offaly the birthpace of his great-great-great grandfather Falmouth Kearney (who emigrated to the US in 1850, because of the potato famine). Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, was a descendant of one of Kearney's daughters, Mary Ann Kearney, and Jacob William Dunham. So, the Irish can also claim him and how amusing that would be to his kith and kin from h...