It's one of the sales of the century that has proved highly controversial – thousands of Titanic artefacts taken from the seabed are being put up for auction in New York and could fetch up to £100m.

Gloves worn by ladies who lost their lives when the Titanic sank 100 years ago and the silver spoons laid out in the first class dining rooms are among the items recovered from the wreckage, which is located 453 miles southeast of the Newfoundland coastline and was discovered by Robert Ballard in 1985.

Even a piece of the ship's hull weighing 17 tonnes is expected to be sold, in what auctioneer Arlan Ettinger has described as "the single most compelling collection in the entire planet".

It is the only sale of objects recovered from the wreckage, which is two and a half miles below the ocean's surface.

Whoever buys the artefacts, which are being sold as a single lot, will have to abide by certain regulations to ensure the collection will be available for public display.

But a YouGov poll conducted for UTV has revealed most people in Northern Ireland think the items should not go under the hammer.

Only 1% agree the lot, which currently belong to RMS Titanic, Inc who hold the salvage rights, should be put up for auction.

And for local museums, the future of their exhibitions is not yet known.

"We have over 500 original artefacts. Thirty of those objects are on loan from RMS Titanic and we would be sorry to see them go," said Curator of the Titanica Exhibition, William Blair.