TG4 - Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

TG4 was originally only available in Northern Ireland via 'overspill' of the terrestrial signal from the Republic of Ireland. In the 1998 Belfast Agreement there was provision for TG4 (then TnaG) to be made available in Northern Ireland, along with increased recognition of the Irish language. Similarly, while TG4, along with the Republic of Ireland's other terrestrial channels, are carried on Sky Ireland there, it was not available to Sky subscribers in Northern Ireland until 18 April 2005 or on Virgin Media NI until February 2007.

In March 2005, TG4 began broadcasting from the Divis transmitter near Belfast, as a result of agreement between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Northern Ireland Office (N.I.O.). However, because of overcrowding on the frequency bands, only a low power signal can be transmitted and reception is still unavailable in many areas, even in parts of Belfast. The channel is, however, available on cable, digital terrestrial television (Freeview) and on to Sky satellite subscribers. It is hoped that the channel can eventually be made available free-to-air on satellite.

On 1 February 2010, the Republic of Ireland's Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan signed an agreement with the UK's Ben Bradshaw. This agreement enabled viewers within Northern Ireland to watch RTÉ One, RTÉ Two and TG4 on a free-to-air basis as of 2012. The agreement between both jurisdictions will also guarantee that viewers within the Republic will be able to view BBC One Northern Ireland and BBC Two Northern Ireland on the Republic's free-to-air service which is to debut in late 2010. A cross-border initiative has always been on the agenda for the Green Party in Ireland. However, it was later confirmed that BBC Northern Ireland services are now to be offered in the Republic on a 'paid for' basis and not the original free-to-air basis.