The families represented were descendants of Thomas Andrews, chief naval architect of Titanic,  Artie Frost, a foreman fitter who sailed as part of the Guarantee Group, Dr John Edward Simpson who was the second class surgeon, William McReynolds, sixth officer,  Henry Philip Creese , deck engineer,  Thomas Millar, assistant deck engineer and William McQuillan who was a fireman and the only Belfast man on board whose body was identified and given a proper burial in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The ceremony was organised by the Belfast Titanic Society and without exception,  the relatives felt very strongly that the continuing presence of the Belfast Wheel right on top of the Memorial is insulting, inappropriate and sends out the wrong message about how the city views Titanic.
It was a dignified occasion, during which the names of all the men whose names are inscribed on the Memorial were read out, along with five names which have come to light since 1920. A spray of winter flowers was laid at the monument by family members and prayers were said in honour of the dead.  The Lord Mayor, Councillor Naomi Long also participated in the ceremony.
The society hopes that the resulting publicity will help in the cause of relocating the Wheel.  The current planning application from the operators is to extend the stay until September of 2011.  We feel that is not acceptable, as Belfast will be commemorating Titanic’s launch centenary in May of that year.  We also do not wish to have a third 15th April commemoration in the shadow of the wheel. 
We urge everyone with an interest in Titanic to write to the planners with their objection to the 2 year extension by World Tourist Attractions.  Objections can be e-mailed to Belfast.planning@doeni.gov.uk.  The application number is Z/2009/0922/F.
I will keep you informed about progress.