Titanic ceremony still on cards

The Titanic sank on her maiden voyage in April 1912

The official commemoration of the 96th anniversary of the Titanic tragedy will go ahead as planned, Belfast City Council has said.

A service is held at the Titanic memorial at the City Hall every April to remember the 34 NI victims.

The council is due to consider an application to extend the popular Big Wheel's stay in Belfast.

However, it said that this would not affect the annual commemoration marking the 1912 sinking of the Titanic.

"Although we are supporting the extension of the wheel's stay, this will in no way affect the organisation of the annual commemoration ceremony for those who lost their lives on 15 April 1912," said Gerry Copeland of Belfast City Council.

"While the Titanic Memorial is incorporated into the site currently occupied by the wheel, we have a contractual commitment from the operators that, should their stay be extended, the traditional ceremony will go ahead as planned."

The Belfast Titanic Society had originally raised concerns about the impact on the memorial and the anniversary if the wheel's stay was extended.

The success of the attraction could see it staying beyond the original March deadline. The council will make a decision on this next week.

Titanic sank on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on 15 April 1912 with the loss of 1,522 lives.