10 March – A blanket ban on filming in and around
Stormont Castle is lifted when the restrictions on the presence of cameras in the building are lifted, thus allowing proceedings in the
Northern Ireland Assembly to be televised.[1]
4 June – An article in
The Irish Post suggests that Diaspora TV will keep the RTÉ International name. The channel may also be on air ahead of the scheduled launch date of 17 March 2009.[2]
12 June –
RTÉ News Now is launched as an online service. The channel began broadcasting as a
free-to-air channel on 29 October 2010 on
Saorview.
July
27 July – For the first time, the annual
Reek SundayMass on the summit of
Croagh Patrick is broadcast live worldwide by
RTÉ. It is celebrated by Bishop
Michael Neary, who speaks of consumer values that he feels are seducing society.[3]
20 October –
TV3 announces that it will axe the Friday broadcast of TV3 Nightly News, moving current affairs programme The Political Party to replace it. The Saturday and Sunday editions of TV3 News at 5:30 will also cut back, with TV3 News at 5:30 being axed from the weekend schedules to be replaced by five-minute news bulletins.[4]
2 November – RTÉ postpones the planned launch of RTÉ Entertainment, citing financial circumstances. The broadcaster had written to Eamon Ryan during October 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 says the decision to postpone the launch of the channel is "a reflection of the financial realities in Ireland and worldwide". She adds that the minister is committed to the idea of
RTÉ International and that it could be a "brilliant product" similar to
BBC World News.[6]
9 November – RTÉ One airs Gaybo Laughs Back in which veteran broadcaster
Gay Byrne introduces some of the comedy highlights from his thirty-seven years at the helm of the long-running television series, The Late Late Show.[7]
10 November – Launch of
Channel South, a television channel operated by
City Channel, transmitting 24-hour local programming to Cork, Limerick, and parts of Kerry, Waterford, Clare and South Tipperary.
21 November – An edition of The Late Late Show features a performance by the dance troupe
The Satanic Sluts leading to a raft of complaints from RTÉ viewers in the following days. The same show ends with presenter
Pat Kenny tearing up a pair of tickets for The Late Late Toy Show in frustration after a viewer who won them along with €10,000 in a phone-in competition said she wasn't "particularly interested" in attending.[8]
December –
RTÉ News moves out of its usual Studio Three in RTÉ Studios in Donnybrook, Dublin,[10] and relocates to a temporary studio while work is carried out Studio Three for a relaunch. The new look is unveiled on the
One O'Clock News programme on Monday 9 February 2009.[11]
^Cunningham, Grainne (9 December 2008).
"Apprentice Brenda wins job thriller". Irish Independent. Independent News and Media. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
10 March – A blanket ban on filming in and around
Stormont Castle is lifted when the restrictions on the presence of cameras in the building are lifted, thus allowing proceedings in the
Northern Ireland Assembly to be televised.[1]
4 June – An article in
The Irish Post suggests that Diaspora TV will keep the RTÉ International name. The channel may also be on air ahead of the scheduled launch date of 17 March 2009.[2]
12 June –
RTÉ News Now is launched as an online service. The channel began broadcasting as a
free-to-air channel on 29 October 2010 on
Saorview.
July
27 July – For the first time, the annual
Reek SundayMass on the summit of
Croagh Patrick is broadcast live worldwide by
RTÉ. It is celebrated by Bishop
Michael Neary, who speaks of consumer values that he feels are seducing society.[3]
20 October –
TV3 announces that it will axe the Friday broadcast of TV3 Nightly News, moving current affairs programme The Political Party to replace it. The Saturday and Sunday editions of TV3 News at 5:30 will also cut back, with TV3 News at 5:30 being axed from the weekend schedules to be replaced by five-minute news bulletins.[4]
2 November – RTÉ postpones the planned launch of RTÉ Entertainment, citing financial circumstances. The broadcaster had written to Eamon Ryan during October 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 says the decision to postpone the launch of the channel is "a reflection of the financial realities in Ireland and worldwide". She adds that the minister is committed to the idea of
RTÉ International and that it could be a "brilliant product" similar to
BBC World News.[6]
9 November – RTÉ One airs Gaybo Laughs Back in which veteran broadcaster
Gay Byrne introduces some of the comedy highlights from his thirty-seven years at the helm of the long-running television series, The Late Late Show.[7]
10 November – Launch of
Channel South, a television channel operated by
City Channel, transmitting 24-hour local programming to Cork, Limerick, and parts of Kerry, Waterford, Clare and South Tipperary.
21 November – An edition of The Late Late Show features a performance by the dance troupe
The Satanic Sluts leading to a raft of complaints from RTÉ viewers in the following days. The same show ends with presenter
Pat Kenny tearing up a pair of tickets for The Late Late Toy Show in frustration after a viewer who won them along with €10,000 in a phone-in competition said she wasn't "particularly interested" in attending.[8]
December –
RTÉ News moves out of its usual Studio Three in RTÉ Studios in Donnybrook, Dublin,[10] and relocates to a temporary studio while work is carried out Studio Three for a relaunch. The new look is unveiled on the
One O'Clock News programme on Monday 9 February 2009.[11]
^Cunningham, Grainne (9 December 2008).
"Apprentice Brenda wins job thriller". Irish Independent. Independent News and Media. Retrieved 21 February 2015.