Competition for viewers of TV news in Ireland intensified this evening with the introduction by Sky Newsof its first specifically Irish bulletin.
The first broadcast got underway at 7 p.m with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahernon hand to usher in the channel's debut.
The channel will broadcast each weekday evening two half hourly bulletins at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.
In his speech at the launch, the Taoiseach said: Sky News Ireland represented "a very exciting development for television and the delivery of news in Ireland".
He said the launch was "particularly timely. In hosting the Presidency of the European Union over the past number of months, Ireland has been the focus of much international attention. As one of Europe's most popular news channels, Sky News Ireland will certainly add to the diversity of media in this country."
Former TV3and TG4newscaster Grainne Seoige will present the bulletins. The new operation will employ 21 people and an investment of more than €2 million is understood to have gone into the project.
Viewing figures for Sky Newshave been relatively poor in Ireland. Between May 2004 and April 2004 the flagship 9 o'clock bulletin only managed on average to attract about 9,000 viewers, just over one per cent of the market.
In contrast RTE bulletin at the same time boasted 332,000 viewers, almost 40 per cent of the market. TV3's 5.30 bulletin was able to pull in 88,000 viewers representing 18 per cent of the market at that particular time.
Ms Seoige will be joined by current Sky Newsweather girl, Lisa Burke, former TG4 and Nuacht news reader Eibhlín Ní Chonghaile who is West of Ireland bureau chief as well as two former reporters of TV3, Ray Kennedy and Brian Daly.