The new channel from Irish public broadcaster RTE that will serve the British mainland has been named as RTÉ International. The channel, previously known under the working title Diaspora TV, will target the 850,000 Irish-born people living in the UK that have been without television from the republic since the demise of Tara TV in 2001. It seems likely that the channel will launch ahead of its proposed March 17, 2009 launch.
RTE International will be a hybrid of RTÉ One and RTÉ Two with selected programming being drawn from the Gaelic-language channel TG4. The main One, Six-One and Nine O’clock news bulletins will be screened live. The broadcaster is currently advertising for senior staff.
The launch of such a channel was mandated in the Irish Communications Act of 2007.
