Announcing the plans for the multi-million pound venture yesterday was Ulster’s Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure Edwin Poots, who visited the new site of the proposal.

He said that its location – adjacent to the Gateway building at the entrance of Titanic Quarter – was very appropriate given that many of the records held by PRONI included some on the famous ship.

“My Department has committed £30 million to the re-location of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland in the hope that everyone from the region and visitors can use the resources it holds,” said Mr Poots.

Mr Poots said that the regeneration of Titanic Quarter will formally put PRONI on the map as “a must-see tourist attraction for local, national and international visitors”.

“The project to relocate the Public Record Office is very exciting and significant and shows the Government’s commitment to acknowledging the importance and inherent value of the unique cultural assets which PRONI holds.

“It is also important to ensure good building design, and it is my desire that the new Public Record Office building will be a legacy which current and future generations will both cherish and use.”

Chief executive officer of Titanic Quarter Mike Smith agreed that the PRONI’s new headquarters would represent a “superb” addition to Titanic Quarter.

“Our ambition is to reconnect Belfast with its waterfront – the thousands of visitors who avail of PRONI’s archives will help achieve just that,” he said.