Norn Iron sculpture picks up international award - RISE

It took a long time to get a piece of public art erected on Broadway Roundabout only for Titanic Belfast to arrive and take the limelight away from the 37.5m, 65,000-piece Balls on the Falls.

So while in Gloucester - home to another of Wolfgang Buttress' sculptures - I was glad to see that RISE has won a prize: the 'small projects' category at the Institute of Structural Engineers' annual international awards. There'll have been cheers in Rasharkin where the manufacturer M Hasson and Sons is based.

Apparently buildings rather than sculptures tend to pick up the gongs. The judges explained:

"Pure sculptural structures are amongst the most difficult to achieve successfully, as everything is on view, and will be scrutinised down to the finest detail. It is therefore a real pleasure to find a creation such as this, which admirably projects the artist's original vision and at the same time celebrates the aesthetic beauty of pure, efficient structure for its own sake."

Also good to see that Derry's Peace Bridge was commended. The Iron Market in Port-au-Prince (Haiti) won its sustainability category.