Jeremy Paxman: Titanic iceberg did Belfast a favour

Jeremy Paxman has angered people in Belfast by suggesting the iceberg that sank the Titanic did the city a favour.

Paxman used his column in the Spectator to comment on the level of British tax spending in the North. "If you ever wonder what happens to your taxes, I recommend a visit to Northern Ireland, " he said. He also said many Northerners were a "weird shade of orange" from tanning salons.

The former BBC presenter wrote about having dinner in the Titanic Quarter. “Whatever the loss of life, that iceberg did the city a huge favour. They should call it the ’Iceberg Quarter’.

Paxman went on to state that the Harland and Wolff area, previously known for shipyards, was being used for the “modern cure­all, ‘leisure’” because successive British governments “poured in public money to try and secure the thousands of shipyard jobs before throwing in the towel.”

“Harland and Wolff must have built thousands of vessels, but Titanic is the only one most people have heard of.”

He remarked that there appeared to be at least “half a dozen quarters of Belfast, but that’s inflation for you”.

Paxman recalled living in Belfast during the early years of the Troubles when Belfast was a more “benighted place (literally so in troubled parts of Belfast, where all the streetlights had been shot out, blown out or switched off).”

He contracted it with the present-day Belfast where the streets were full of shoppers, Romanian Big Issue sellers and “people turned that weird shade of orange which tanning salons think attractive”.

Belfast deputy Lord Mayor Maire Hendron called the article "offensive" to those who are trying to improve the city's image.

“I don’t think this sort of article is either helpful or constructive, but Jeremy Paxman is not known for being positive about things,” the Alliance councillor said.

Harland and Wolff sales manager David McVeigh said Paxman’s views on the Titanic quarter were out of date and the cranes there were not just ornaments.

The great-granddaughter of a Belfast man who died on board the Titanic told The Belfast Telegraph that she was appalled by Paxman’s comments.

Susie Millar, whose relative was Thomas Millar, said they were "extreme insensitive and insulting" to the memory of the 1,517 people who died when the Titanic went down.

Paxman was a guest of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry.