THE CENTENARY of the Titanic's launch in Belfast has been marked with a celebration and commemoration at the city's Harland and Wolff shipyard and the opening of an exhibition of artefacts at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.
A flare was fired at 13 minutes after noon to mark the precise moment the ship, then the largest moving man-made structure, slid into the waters of Belfast lough.
At launch, ships in the area sounded their horns and onlookers cheered for 62 seconds, until the ill-fated ship hit the water from the slipway.
Gathered around the original slipway yesterday, guests listened to the Harlandic and Queen’s Victoria male voice choirs and observed a minute’s silence in commemoration of the 1,517 people who died when the ship went down.
The celebrations and commemoration were led by the Rev Chris Bennett, who is chaplain at the Titanic Quarter in Belfast.
"For the last 100 years, Titanichas often not been mentioned. It's been our shame, our secret," he told the BBC. "We've almost had a hundred-year moment of silence, so really we're trying to rediscover the pride."
The Stormont Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure opened an exhibition of 500 artefacts connected to the Titanic, many of them on display for the first time.
Carál Ní Chuilín said the exhibition, at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra, just outside Belfast, would prove to be a welcome boost for tourism in Belfast “at this challenging time”.
The exhibition features “The People’s Story” which is described as a living history experience portraying daily life on the ship.
Ms Ní Chuilín, who was joined at the opening by relatives of shipyard workers who built the Titanic, said: "I welcome the opportunity to open this fantastic exhibition for which my department provided funding of approximately £1 million."
Last night, the first performance of a play based on a man intricately linked to the Titanicwas given to Cork audiences.
On April 14th, 1912, managing director of the White Star Line J Bruce Ismay stepped into a lifeboat and sailed away from the stricken ship. His actions are examined in Patrick Prior's play, The Man Who Left the Titanic, which opened last night at Cork's Everyman Theatre Palace.
Prior said his research into events surrounding Ismay’s decision to leave the ship reveal complexities of human character.
“You always think initially of a cowardly rascal sitting in a lifeboat sailing away from the ship, shame-faced.
“But when I began to write the play, I realised it is much more complex than that. How he should have acted depends on what you think about human weakness,” he said.