NIALL COGLEY has resigned as chief executive of Setanta Ireland to pursue a new business venture that will be backed by the company.

Mr Cogley, who was at the helm of the Irish business for more than six years, is to be replaced in the interim by Michael O’Rourke, one of the sports broadcaster’s co-founders.

Setanta has begun searching for a permanent replacement for Mr Cogley, Mr O’Rourke wrote in an e-mail yesterday.

Setanta said it could not provide details of Mr Cogley’s new venture, but described it as “an exciting opportunity and one which we plan to back Niall in exploiting”.

Mr Cogley is a former director of sport at RTÉ.

Setanta hit the headlines in the summer of 2009 when it failed to make payments to both the Premier League in England and the Scottish Premier League due to financial difficulties.

This led to the collapse of its UK business and about €500 million in shareholder equity being wiped out. However, the broadcaster got a major boost when it pipped British satellite broadcaster BSkyB for the right to show 33 live English Premier League games in the Republic last season.

Regaining the rights to the Saturday afternoon matches helped to secure the future of Setanta’s Irish business. Setanta Sports Ireland is now included in most basic cable television packages in Ireland and also boasts the rights to show some rugby and GAA matches.

The broadcaster, which was founded by Mr O’Rourke and Leonard Ryan, also operates a pay-per-view service.