Freesat service from RTÉ by 2009

By St Patrick’s Day next year, 17 March 2009, the Irish government has pledged that an RTÉ channel will be available on Freesat.

Diaspora TV will be the first service for the Irish community in Britain since, due to financial reasons, Tara TV closed nearly six years ago.

The new service will be a hybrid of RTÉ One and RTÉ 2 with additional programming from TG4. It will carry the One, Six-One and 9 o’clock news bulletins live.

The aim of the service will be to provide home-grown Irish programming that will be of real interest to Irish communities abroad.

The 2001 Census in Britain records a figure of 850,000 Irish born people living in the UK. There are many more of direct Irish descent. The new channel will provide the Irish abroad with a valuable link to home.”

Story link: Freesat service from RTÉ by 2009