WHEN the town’s mayor was asked to judge an annual photographic exhibition there was one image which stood out from the rest.

Ipswich Star: Ipswich Mayor Mary Blake will be marrying her partner and consort John Duffy in Belfast in September.Ipswich Mayor Mary Blake will be marrying her partner and consort John Duffy in Belfast in September. (Image: Archant)

Mary Blake is getting married in Northern Ireland later this year and spending her honeymoon travelling around County Antrim – including a visit to the magnificent Giant’s Causeway.

And so when Ms Blake spotted a majestic photograph of the iconic landmark, there was only ever going to be one winner.

Although she has lived in Ipswich for 40 years, the mayor was born in Dublin and went to school north of the border in County Antrim.

She has been with her partner, Ipswich-born John Duffy, for five-and-a-half years and the couple will tie the knot at Belfast City Hall in September, before heading off on their honeymoon.

She said: “The exhibition was a very high standard and I thought it would be hard to choose one, but when I saw the photograph I loved it and I was really pleased it had a meaning.

“I started school in Antrim and spent all my childhood holidays in Northern Ireland, so it’ll be a very nostalgic trip for me.”

She picked the picture of the Giant’s Causeway as the winner of the Mayor’s Cup at the Ipswich and District Photographic Society’s Annual Exhibition.

Landscape photographer and society secretary David Robinson, who took the photo, is also originally from Northern Ireland and took the photograph when he was visiting his mother.

Society publicity secretary Moira Ellice said: “It’s an annual exhibition held in the council chambers in the town hall and the mayor awards a cup each year.

“As soon as the exhibition is put up, the mayor comes and looks at all the prints and projected images and he or she chooses a favourite.

“When she walked into the exhibition, she saw the picture of the Giant’s Causeway and it just caught her eye.

“She announced that evening that she and her consort John Duffy were getting married in Belfast and having their honeymoon in County Antrim.”

Following the exhibition, 20 members of the society were invited to tea at the mayor’s parlour and Mr Robinson presented a framed copy of the print to the mayor.

“We had a wonderful tea and we had a tour of the mayor’s chambers,” Mrs Ellice said. “She’s just such a lovely lady.”

Ms Blake added: “It’s already hanging up in my hallway and it does look amazing.”