Apparently, the government has stepped in to make sure that Samson and Goliath will stay standing. For those of you not familiar with Belfast, Samson and Goliath are the massive cranes that stand in the middle of Harland and Wolff shipyard. They are fucking huge, bright yellow and are the biggest of Belfast’s landmarks, visible from every approach into the city, right by the City airport and the ferry terminals.

Now, I do agree with some of the arguements, and the cranes are central to the Belfast skyline. But they’re only 40 years old, and H&W don’t do shipbuilding any more, so they’ll probably never be used properly again (what H&W seem to be doing at the minute is making bridges, which need to be assembled in place, therefore must be small enough to transport, therefore don’t need Goliath-type cranes). Basicially, the government is severely limiting the options of the company, which is fighting for survival as it is. Oh well.