It all started, in a surprisingly modern way, with a smoking ban. Imposed in 1854 by the nascent yard's didactic new manager, the 23 year old Edward Harland. In addition to the ban on smoking, Harland cut wages as he reckoned the work was sub-standard.
It was never a pleasant or progressive place in which to work. The employment system was tyrannical and nepotistic. Bullying and victimisation by the brutal cadre of foremen was the norm rather than the exception. Unskilled labourers, employed casually, were treated like scum, barely better than Catholics.
And the foregoing three paragraphs tell you all we know about the fourth industrial revolution; until now, shipyards, factories, mines have all been seen as formed by the men and women who built them and spent their lives working in them. We discuss them in terms of their workforce. In fact, the yard need not be redundant - though the workforce is history. A shipyard located where slipways fall into deep, sheltered water, where there is an abundance of power, where there are transport links, rail, ports and above all 5G comms, could well become a resurgent industry later this century. CNC steel cutting and shaping, robotic movers and welders, AI build supervisors and driverless cranes could see shipbuilding return to Belfast - but not employment. New jobs will be in a comfortable, climate conditioned computer control and monitoring suite, or servicing the CNC machines and robotic welders.
If the site is so suited, we must make efforts to secure it from being lost to woke hipster housing, leisure centres or MUGA cages paid for with the billions of the supply and confidence arrangements.We must recognise that locations that can be used for AI replacement industry are key assets - and protect them now.
24 comments:
Again I have to find out wtf muga stands for. And it seems Multi Use Games Area.
Correct?
Yep - sorry. They're a sure sign of the public sector being given cash they don't really know how to spend.
Raedwald, yes that's probably a pretty good account, of what life for an employee in the private sector has generally been like over the last century or so.
Ireland is not densely populated. There's plenty of room for all sorts of sites, and indeed, for housing too. So whatever the democratically-elected council decided to do with this one will be for them and for the people of Belfat, I'd have thought.
So who are this "we" who must stop them doing something through their localism, if you personally don't like it?
Make Ulster Great Again?
And I'm not a robot. Phew.
But without a mention of shipbuilding elsewhere in the world the account is incomplete.
Harland and Wolff may be ideal as a shipbuilding site but there are plenty of others as well placed. Even though I naturally resist 'offshoring' as a principle, the economics will out as long as the products of the yard are competing with sites in other countries. Unless you have a desire to produce many fishery protection vessels for our 'own use'....
5G warships? Advanced tech vessels? post-marine fuel oil propulsion vessels? I think there are areas in which we can uniquely add value other than steel-box container carriers
".....So whatever the democratically-elected council decided to do with this one will be for them and for the people of Belfat, I'd have thought.
So who are this "we" who must stop them doing something through their localism, if you personally don't like it?."
Pity the remain trolls don't apply this type of viewpoint when it comes to the democratically arrived at leave vote.
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The early morning R4 propagandists were handing out hints as to how no deal Brexit could be stopped, as per usual. However they took a new tack by roping in some US talking head to tell us how a US trade deal could be stopped and it was all pie in the sky etc. The propagandists are looking ahead and don't like what they see, that's a good sign.
Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Marching Season.
I'd miss Summer if I lived in Belfast. Good job for all of us, that Gershwin didn't live there?
RAC, but it is Leave, who wish to drag Northern Ireland and Scotland out of the European Union against their democratically-expressed wish, and I don't see what business of the English it is, what Belfast decides to do with this site either. You know, "localism" and all that.
Furthermore, if that issue were locally divisive, then I'd not expect the local authority to proceed until some settled consensus were reached, rather than bulldozing ahead with a doctrinaire, partisan project, disastrous for community relations, and for the Six Counties' standing in the world.
JPM you mischievoius troll you.
You know perfectly well that the country as a whole, that is the united kingdom of GB & NI voted to leave, and now finally we are going to.
If subsequently, Brexit done and dusted and the resulting economic boom under way, the scots and the western scots decide they wish to leave the UK and can find some other sucker to pay for their social security, than that would be a shame (for historical reasons) but, how can I put this gently... mind the door doesn't hit your arse on the way out.
@ 08:48
I am tired of hearing about Ireland, we have already spent too much in lives and money. None of us are responsible for the wrongdoings and or mistakes of our ancestors. Ireland is its own country, it needs to settle its own disputes itself with Britain out of the picture. It just needs politicians to accept that, now tell your carer to up your meds.
In a sense the modern world countries are going to benefit from outsourcing (initially) their heavy industries as it will be those countries where labour is costly that exploit robotic construction methods first - and when they start, they'll very quickly undercut those (cheap) labour-intensive countries.
But I don't see that happening any time soon. We have another global economic decline to work through first and it may be another 20 years before normality ensues. The owners of the Belfast yard will want to make money in the interim and if that means a skateboard park then a skateboard park it will be.
One of the major issues for Remainers (and the EU) is that an independent UK will prosper beyond the confines of EU restrictive practises and the likes of Ireland will qickly note that fact and want to follow us out - in fact there are many countries that need far less an 'excuse' to want to exit the EU but a prosperous UK is the most dangerous exposure for the EU.
If you look at the political angst regarding the subject of Brexit you can see that the EU have had zero interest in the potential future of the UK other than wanting to afirm/confirm/engineer its FAILURE - even someone with decent 'manners' would say "thanks for your business and good luck for the future" - but the EU???
Economically, the EU is already showing signs of collapse and unless the UK detaches from it they will be LIABLE for a good proportion of the expense (bills).
JPM : Re : "Dragging Scotland out of the EU" :
The SNP say that Brexit will split up the UK, particularly that Scotland will vote to leave the UK in order to re-join the EU.
I believe that the reverse is the more likely.
The SNP’s wish to remain in the EU demonstrates that it is not independence they seek but simply separation from England.
They want the UK to remain in the EU because it is an EU policy to divide up the UK into regions and thus separate Scotland from England.
They felt they would still continue to receive funding from the English taxpayer but instead of directly it would be via the EU.
The UK’s departure from the EU would now destroy this plan.
As a result I think that once we have left the EU, the call for Scottish independence will decline as Scottish voters will prefer to be an important part of a democratic UK rather than a small state on the fringes of an undemocratic and increasingly authoritarian EU.
Never mind, having to give away their fishing grounds for a second time and adopt the Euro.
Ireland will not follow the UK out.
There is almost no desire in Ireland to leave the EU.
England fought and conquered and ruled Ireland. Never in a good way. There is no love for us there. They did far better under the EU than they ever did out of being in the uk.
Who cares whether Ireland wants to stay in or leave the EU. Not I.
Ireland chose to become an EU province and best of luck to them (particularly with their Euro debt and it will be interesting to see what happens to their corporation tax rate and overall contributions going forward).
I am more than happy to buy Irish butter, beef and anything else they have to sell. They produce very nice food and why would we not want to buy from somebody so close?
Scotland too. If they want to leave the UK and apply to join the EU, similarly, best of luck with that. They'll need it!!
That little piece of Ireland in England, Liverpool, doesn't want to leave the European Union either, Jack.
I think that their football fans' booing of God Save The Queen at Wembley was absolutely marvellous, and a first, which resonated around the world.
I hope that we see more of this, from supporters coming from our other internationally-minded, forward-looking great cities.
You see, it's not just London. Is it?.
Ireland 'sort of' voted to be subjugated by the EU - ISTR it took more than one vote to convince them..... the very same method the Remainers are trying to con the British electorate into.
I want the EU to explain, truthfully, why they want (need) the UK to remain. I suspect it is purely for the money they can leech from us to support their ambitions - ambitions that have no consideration for the donors of the money, only the few dictatorial beneficiaries of the 'end result'.
Clearly (imho) they see an independent UK as a threat - financially or exemplary (both perhaps) - to their nefarious plans. If this is the case then surely those people who are being 'taken along for the ride' need to be told where the end station is and what will be there to greet them?
For far too long the EU has been built on obfuscation, deceit and outright lies as to its intent. It would never have got anywhere close to where it is now without those lies - and no one, not even JPM should be able to justify a future based on LIES. But, then again, lies are all the EU has. The truth will destroy it.
This whole European Union exit mess stems from the fact that the UK does not have a codified, federal Constitution, into which its EU membership was incorporated.
The default position with constitutions - that is their very point - is stability, i.e. in the slightest doubt, there is no change.
So something as radical and far-reaching as leaving - or joining - the European Union would have needed a supermajority like any other major change, and the four nations would each have had a veto. That would have paralleled procedures in nearly all modern democracies.
If you remember, the UK did get what would have been a supermajority in many countries to remain in 1975?
@Cheerful
Why should a country that is not "federal" have a "federal" constitution?
Who would have written this "constitution" as a matter of interest?
It's off-topic, but most countries gather a Constitutional Convention to draft one.
Farage thinks that the UK should have a federal one, incidentally. It's one of the areas where he and Labour agree.
It's a bit late now, mind you.
JPM"I think that their football fans' booing of God Save The Queen at Wembley was absolutely marvellous...
Any particular reason why?
The idea that a written constitution drawn up by some bunch of establishment dags and shysters would work better than the marvellous organic living constitution we have is quite unbelievably stupid.
It is akin to thinking that civil law delivers better results than the common law which it demonstrably doesn't.
Still sock puppets will be sock puppets and as the name implies have shit for brains, so I suppose we should feel sorry for you.
I think that someone who publicises the fact that he hasn't a clue about how the English jurisdiction operates, what civil law is, what the common law is, and how they form part of each other, is in no position to call anyone "unbelievably stupid", notably the Founding Fathers of the USA, who convened their constitutional convention.
Born and raised in Liverpool, that article is a perfect summary of why I left it almost 40 years ago!
For the record, Derek Hatton - that man of the people (after he was kicked out of the labour party by pillock he became a "celeb" complete with BMW 635 with "DEG 5Y" personalised number plate) - just spent, spent, spent as leader of the council.
Don't worry, Thatcher will cough up. Thatcher did not oblige. But then, she wasn't really a tory was she.
I think at one point to raise money they were leasing parking meters to Swiss (I think it was Swiss) banks. The school I went to in the 70s, which had 11 acres of grounds is now a housing estate. It wasn't the only thing sold.
What reputation Liverpool had after Hatton, that other horny handed son of toil, Alan Bleasedale, buried with that loathsome dirge to self pity AKA "boys from the black stuff" (shit and sawdust, don't get me started on that!)
If you ever wondered where Harry Enfield's "scousers" came from, or why Liverpool has such a dismal reputation today, look no further.
Many towns and cities would have been outraged to be portrayed as being jam packed with bovine losers, but "Boys" seems to be the scouse version of fucking Beowulf. Incredible!
Booing the national anthem? Not in the least bit surprised.
One fortuitous thing though is that while much of the rest of the country seems to be succumbing to "estuary english" the scouse accent has got a lot thicker, coarser and more gutteral. These days it's just plain ugly.
Nobody can tell (or very seldom) where I come from - thank fuck! It's fascinating listening to people if ever the subject of Liverpool comes up.
Cheerful old son, if you genuinely care tuppence about the place, you'd be the first!
Before football and the Beatles it was somewhere to be proud of. Since Hatton and Bleasedale, it's just where I was born.
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