But the last shall be first and the first shall be last: May the Lord in His mercy be kind to Belfast

A monument to Sir E. J. Harland in Belfast takes us up north of the border (which is in the news) today, and gives me an opportunity to quote from Maurice Craig's wonderful poem. Harland is a name that is synonymous with Belfast - but I confess to know very little about the bearer of that name, can you enlighten me?..And so I have learned something - including his apparent like of the odd cigar :) While Edward James Harland ( Edward_Harland ) is perhaps best known for his shipbuilding activities, his Wikipedia article also lists him as a politician. And he was Mayor and later MP for Belfast for a period. This statue ( https://www.titanicmemorials.co.uk/post/memorial/edward+harland+statue+belfast/ ) was one of several by Thomas Brock ( Thomas_Brock ) on the grounds of Belfast's city hall. Though in a broad catalogue range (1860s-1910s), this image was likely captured within a few years of the statue's unveiling - in mid-1903........Photographer: Robert French..Collection: Lawrence Photograph Collection ( http://catalogue.nli.ie/Collection/vtls000313414 ) ..Date: Catalogue range c.1865-1914. After c.1903 (statue).NLI Ref: L_ROY_00260 ( vtls000325875 ) ..You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie ( http://catalogue.nli.ie )