A SOAP four days a week and a music programme featuring styles ranging from sean nos to Van Morrison are among the programmes that will be shown on Teilifis na Gaeilge.
The new station will have 240 hours of programming commissioned by the time it begins broadcasting on October 31st, according to the ceannasai, Mr Cathal Goan. Mr Goan said yesterday the soap, Ros na Run, was employing 40 people for 40 weeks a year and was the biggest independent sector investment in the history of Irish broadcasting.
Mr Goan said Teilifis na Gaeilge was investigating programmes made for European television that could be revoiced into Irish.
The music programme, presented by Donal Lunny, will run for 13 editions and was produced by Philip King, who made Bringing It All Back Home and River of Sound.
Initially Teilifis na Gaeilge will offer three hours broadcasting a day, 5-6 p,m. and 8-10 p.m. It is hoped to extend the hours by the end of the second year, filling the 6-7 p.m. period.
About 40 per cent of homes in Northern Ireland will be able to receive the channel. But Mr Goan has met Cabletel, the company establishing Northern Ireland's cable network, with a view to having the new service relayed on it. He also hopes that Teilifis na Gaeilge will have access to Irish language programmes which may be funded by the British government in Northern Ireland, in the way it funds Welsh and Gaelic broadcasts.
Mr Goan said Teilifis na Gaeilge would be free to sell off time on its frequency and had been approached by a number of interests. However, it was seeking to fill the frequency with "compatible material" such as distance learning, Irish and EU parliamentary broadcasting and foreign language programmes.
With only six months to go before Teilifis na Gaeilge goes on air, there are still a number of issues that have not been fully resolved. The station is hoping that a new Bill will be passed in the lifetime of this Dail to put it on a firm footing. There is also the question of its editorial freedom, with the news service being run by RTE.
Teilifis na Gaeilge is being funded with a once off capital payment of £16 million from the Exchequer, which is being reclaimed from the excess Advertising money earned by RTE when the cap on advertising was in force. RTE is providing about £6 million in programmes and other services. The annual Government grant will be £10 million.