The Den (TV programme)

The Den is a long-running children's entertainment television programme on Ireland's public broadcaster, RTÉ.

First broadcast on 29 September 1986 on RTÉ1, it moved to Network 2 two years later.

Initially a continuity strand for weekday afternoon programmes, The Den later expanded during the late 1990s and the 2000s, until it became synonymous with RTÉ's children's output.

At various times during its run, it was known as Dempsey's Den, Den TV and Den2.

In mid-2010, RTÉ Television announced an overhaul of its children's output with the launch of RTÉjr and TRTÉ (now RTÉ Kids). The Den aired for the last time on 19 September 2010.

The Den name returned for six weeks from November 2020 on RTÉ1, reuniting members of the original cast in a Sunday-evening variety-show format, predominantly aimed at families living through the country's continuing Covid-19 lockdowns.