Belfast has marked the hundredth anniversary of the launch of the Titanic at the spot were the ship was built.
On Tuesday, members of the public turned out to take part in a religious service to remember those who died on the ill-fated liner.
On May 31, 1911, the ship entered Belfast Lough for the first time from the Harland and Wolf shipyard to be fitted out before sailing to Southampton in England.
The passenger liner sank after hitting an iceberg en route from Southampton to New York in April 15, 1912, resulting in the deaths of 1,517 passengers and crew. It had taken three years to build and was the largest moving man-made object on earth at the time.
During Tuesday's service, a flare was set off at 13 minutes past mid-day, the exact time of the launch a century ago.
Speaking at the event, the Reverend Chris Bennett, chaplain of Belfast's Titanic Quarter development on the site of the former Harland & Wolff dock yards, said for the last 100 years Titanic had not often been mentioned.
"It's been our shame, our secret," he said.
"We've almost had a hundred-year moment of silence, so really we're trying to rediscover the pride today."
An exhibition about the Titanic has also opened this week at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum and will feature more than 500 original artifacts, and will also include an outdoor interactive re-creation of a Titanic-era street.
Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, said: "No ship has gripped the world's imagination like RMS Titanic.
"Her remarkable story begins at her birthplace in Belfast, and we highly recommend visitors to Belfast to discover the story of her creation through this exhibition."
The new lord mayor of Belfast, Niall O Donnghaile, said Belfast's role in the Titanic story had been overlooked in the past.
"The Titanic story is probably one of the most fascinating, amazing, poignant, thought-provoking and absorbing tales from the last century, if not the last millennium," he said.
"For too long, Belfast's part in the Titanic story, and the role of the people of Belfast in bringing Titanic to life, has been neglected.
"Over the past few years, the city that gave birth to the ship, and many others, has finally and rightfully acknowledged her part in the tale, and today we are proud to celebrate the achievement, epitomized by this historic moment, and educate the world about our city's role in the Titanic story."
A year-long program of events are planned to mark the 100th anniversary of the Titanic, both its launch and its sinking. A total of £7 billion has been invested in Belfast's Titanic Quarter where an interactive visitor center is due to open next year.
