Northern Ireland culture minister Carál Ní Chuilín has officially opened the new TITANICa experience at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Holywood, near Belfast.

The major new exhibition was unveiled 100 years to the day that the ill-fated Titanic was launched from Belfast's Harland and Wolff shipyards. Around £1m has been invested in TITANICa: The Exhibition by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, which features more than 500 objects relating to the liner.

Included in the collection of exhibits are never-before-seen items from the Titanic's Atlantic Ocean wreck on loan from US-based RMS Titanic Inc - a subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions and the Salvor in Possession of the wreck site. In addition to TITANICa: The Exhibition, TITANICa: The People's Story has also opened and explores how life would have been during the time of the ship's construction.

Ní Chuilín said: "It is important that we mark the centenary of the launch of the Titanic and all that it means for Belfast. "We want to ensure that our whole community is able to benefit from the opportunities provided by the Titanic centenary."

National Museums Ireland director Tim Cooke said: "The exhibition will provide an important and complementary visitor attraction supporting all the efforts being made to boost tourism and public engagement over the next couple of years." Image (from left): RMS Titanic vice president of collections Alexandra Klingelhofer; Dan Harvey, chair of the board of National Museums Northern Ireland trustees; Tim Cooke; and Carál Ní Chuilín at the TITANICa exhibition