A treat in store at 10:15pm on Thursday night if you can pick up RTE1 (if you have Sky it’s Channel 161) – the premiere of City Of A Thousand Launches, a truly fabulous documentary about the birth of Titanic Quarter and the construction of Titanic Belfast (here’s the trailer):

Having seen a contributors’ preview DVD (modest cough), I can tell you that this is one not to be missed… tracing the story of Belfast’s relationship with Titanic from the pride of construction, the heartbreak of loss, the long years of denial, to the rebirth of hope and the sense that the ship has regained her rightful place in our history books over these past few years.

I found the programme incredibly moving – I was practically out of my seat cheering towards the end – and feel humbled, thankful and slightly overwhelmed to have been a part of this amazing story over the past few years.

Apparently my cheery face pops up all over the trailer that’s being shown this week on RTE – leading to a slightly confusing conversation in the cafe at the weekend:

Customer: I saw you on the Late Late Show last night
Me: Are you sure? I have absolutely no memory of that
Customer: Definitely.  It was you, talking about Titanic
Me: (thinking: is it possible that I travelled to Dublin, appeared on a chat show and travelled home again without actually realising it): That sounds like me all right…

When I found out the adverts for City Of A Thousand Launches have been running all week, it all became clear!

Set your Sky+ now!

(And if you miss it, don’t despair – the DVD is on sale in Titanic Belfast and is currently being played on continuous loop on the big screen in Dock Cafe!)