ALL 16 episodes of the Channel 4 comedy, Father Ted, which won a BAFTA award last week, have been bought by RTE to be shown in the autumn.
The deal was clinched last week the MIP TV market in Cannes, one of the world's biggest sales conferences for television programmes.
RTE has also bought the third series of The X Files, the legal drama staring John Thaw, Kaanagh QC, and a new Australian teenage drama called Sweat.
RTE's bead of acquired programmes, MrDermot Horan, defended RTE's purchase of programmes that have already been available in Ireland on British channels by pointing out that often popular British television programmes have not a huge Irish audience. Armed with the overnight ratings, he can see what viewers are and are not watching.
Father Ted was obviously popular on Channel 4, but that station, like BBC2, does not have a huge audience in Ireland, he said.
Kavanagh QC was not popular in Ireland when transmitted by ITV, because it was shown on Monday night against ER on RTE.
Other factors that come into play when seeking out products to buy at Cannes, or other markets, include the willingness of viewers to watch comedy programmes time and time again. Classic series are often repeated and still attract big audiences.
Mr Horan was pleased at acquiring Sweat, an Australian teen drama set in a sports academy.
For the first time RTE was faced with competition at Cannes from those seeking to acquire programmes for broadcast within the Republic. UTV was investigating programmes for UV3, the new commercial channel which will begin transmitting next year. UTV is a major shareholder in the new station.
RTE signed up Coronation Street for the next three years and Home and Away until the year 2000. This will ensure that those two programmes, believed to be the type the new station would want, are unavailable to it.
Mr Horan said that potential competition, in the shape of Tv3, had already pushed up prices. He bad had to pay a higher rate to acquire Coronation Street, for instance.
Later this month the US networks will announce the programmes that will be going into production. After this television buyers, including Mr Horan, will spend two weeks at the end of May and beginning of June watching pilot programmes to spot the new ER, Murder One, Central Park West, LA Law or NYPD Blue.
Meanwhile, Mr Horan said, RTE will be purchasing Pride and Prejudice, the BBC's successful adaptation of Jane Austen's novel, which will be shown on RTE next year.