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The Ulster Museum will reopen on Thursday after it closed four-and-a-half months ago when the coronavirus lockdown began.

It will be the first major museum in Northern Ireland to reopen to the public since the beginning of lockdown.

Initially, 450 people will be allowed in to the attraction and social distancing measures will be in place.

Visitors are not required to wear a mask, but the museum is asking people to pre-book slots online.

The chief executive of National Museums NI, Kathryn Thomson, said pre-booking was necessary "to manage capacity and visitor flow".

"There will be a separate entry and a separate exit and you can follow different routes depending on what it is that you want to see while you are here," she said.

Changes have been made to some of the interactive galleries to stop people touching collections.

Ms Thomson said audio features have been replaced with subtitles.

"We have all of the same collections. They are all waiting for visitors to see, but some of the interactives we've made some adjustments to so that we can ensure safety and hygiene at all times alongside social distancing."

The museum said all interactions with staff, including check-in, will be contactless.

The café is to remain temporarily closed.

'So frustrating'

"We exist to open our museum doors and allow people in and engage with the collections," said Ms Thomson.

"It's been so frustrating for us not to be able to do that.

"We have moved a lot of our content online, but nothing beats the experience of standing in front of a painting or looking at an object and learning about it."

She said her team have been "fully trained" for the reopening and that they have worked to make the museum in south Belfast accessible for vulnerable groups.

'Assured and confident'

"We know that Covid-19 and isolation has affected some vulnerable groups of people more than others - maybe older people, people with hearing or sight loss as well as special educational needs.

"So we've been working with a range of representative groups to develop accessible ways into the museum so that they can be assured and confident the museum is a great place for them to be."

The Ulster Folk Museum and Ulster American Folk Park will both reopen on 13 August, while the Ulster Transport Museum reopens on 20 August. Titanic Belfast will open again on 1 August.