RTÉ Ireland was a proposed international television channel, intended to be broadcast outside Ireland, by Ireland's public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). The channel was proposed to be broadcast online at RTÉ.ie,

IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a Telephone company, telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live telev ...

and on satellite in the United Kingdom. As of 2008, the proposed launch of the channel had been "shelved". The channel was expected to offer programmes from

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

and

RTÉ Two (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, television, RT� ...

. In 2007, the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...

(parliament) passed legislation requiring that RTÉ supply international service to suit the needs of Irish citizens living abroad, along with other new digital RTÉ channels.

History

The channel was initially to launch in Spring 2009, branded as "RTÉ International". It was proposed that the channel would launch in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in March 2009. (RTÉ's domestic channels are already available on

Freeview Freeview may refer to: *Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia *Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), a ...

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

and

Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, but not to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, owing to rights restrictions.) A similar service aired from 1996 until 2002, operated by a since-defunct cable and satellite channel,

Tara Television Tara Television (or Tara TV, or just Tara by continuity announcers) was an Irish cable and satellite channel that broadcast from 1997 to 2002, aimed at the Irish community living in Britain. Despite its initial promise, the channel faced finan ...

. This channel was carried on

in the United Kingdom and on a small number of cable television services. Tara was shut down in 2002, leaving Irish viewers in Britain without access to Irish television. While Setanta Sports Media reportedly considered creating a replacement channel in 2004, this did not materialise. In 2007, a

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

councillor, of Irish extraction, Martin Curry, reportedly sought to have RTÉ International carried on the digital terrestrial television service,

, if Sky removed its channels from Freeview, rather than allowing Sky to use the bandwidth for subscription television. On 17 March 2008,

Eamon Ryan Eamon Michael Ryan (born 28 July 1963) is an Irish former Green Party politician who served as Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Minister for Transport from June 2020 to January 2025, and was Leader of the Green Par ...

the

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources The Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment () is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. The Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment is Darragh O'Brie ...

announced the launch of "RTÉ International" under the new working title of "Diaspora TV". On 4 June 2008,

The Irish Post ''The Irish Post'' is a national newspaper for the Irish community in Great Britain. It is published every Wednesday and is sold in shops in Great Britain and Ireland. History The first print edition of ''The Irish Post'' was published on Fr ...

reported that the channel would not in fact be named Diaspora TV and would keep the RTÉ International name. They also suggested that the channel might be operational ahead of the previously scheduled launch date of 17 March 2009. On 2 November 2008, RTÉ postponed the planned launch, citing strained financial circumstances. The broadcaster wrote to Eamon Ryan during October 2008 claiming that it would be "unwise" for it to continue with the plan. RTÉ said it intended to honour the commitment in the 2007 Broadcasting Act and hoped to launch the station by the end of 2009. A spokeswoman for Eamon Ryan said the decision to postpone the launch of the channel was "a reflection of the financial realities in Ireland and worldwide". She said the minister was committed to the idea of RTÉ International and that it could be a "brilliant product" similar to

BBC World News BBC News is an international English-language pay television channel owned by BBC Global News Ltd. – a subsidiary of BBC Studios – and operated by the BBC News division of the BBC. The network carries news bulletins, documentaries, an ...

. In September 2013, RTÉ announced new plans to launch the channel in the United Kingdom under the working title of "RTÉ Ireland", as part of their five-year (2012-2017) strategic plan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rte Ireland Proposed television channels and networks

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...