Paris attacks prompt Sky News Irish peak

The breaking coverage of the Paris terrorist attacks on Friday, November 13th, prompted record numbers of Irish viewers to tune into Sky News, according to the media group.

Sky News at 11 on that night had an audience of 190,000 in Ireland, with viewing peaking at 210,000 at 23.14pm, Sky said. This was a 14 per cent share of the audience watching television at the time.

The figures eclipsed a previous Irish record of 140,000 viewers who watched Sky News to see the memorial service for pop star Michael Jackson in July 2009.

Sky gave blanket coverage to Paris in the days after the attacks, dispatching its highest-profile presenter Kay Burley to the scene. While dog lover Burley was mocked on social media for tweeting a picture of a Parisian dog who she said had "sadness in his eyes", also used Twitter's Periscope video app to capture the aftermath of a wave of panic in the city as fireworks were mistaken for gunfire.