Joey Dunlop private collection on display

One of the world's most exclusive private motorcycling collections goes on display from today at the award-winning Ulster Folk & Transport Museum in Holywood, outside Belfast.

"King of the Roads" - the definitive Joey Dunlop collection which celebrates the life and times of the most loved motorcycling sportsman in the history of road racing contains the famous trademark yellow Arai helmet as well as ten sets of racing leathers. Among the clothing is a suit worn by Joey Dunlop in the early 70s as he started out in the sport.

National Museums Northern Ireland's Road Transport Curator Mark Kennedy says the collection is particularly important because of the position Joey Dunlop commanded in the world of motorcycle road racing.

"We are particularly grateful to the Dunlop family for allowing us to display the collection which means so much to them personally.

"Thanks to the generosity of the family, fans will be able to get very close to the memorabilia and share a moment of intimacy with the man so many thousands admired all over the world," says Mr Kennedy.

The collection also includes three motorcycles, Joey Dunlop's ceremonial Manx Sword and OBE. It also contains the first trophy he won as a racer - the mid-Antrim 150 in 1972.

Joey Dunlop's commitment to helping the poor and underprivileged is also recorded. He frequently used his race transporter van on lone humanitarian missions to Romania, Bosnia and Albania brining food and medical supplies to orphanages.

A photographic exhibition also highlights moments before, during and after races in Joey Dunlop's career which spanned over three decades.

The Joey Dunlop exhibition remains on display until mid-September. For further information visit www.nmni.com