TV timing is a relief for Taoiseach

You knew Bertie Ahern really meant it when he said last night's launch of Sky News Ireland was "timely".

If it had happened a week earlier, when the headlines were dominated by Beverley, the e-voting fiasco, and the Minister for Defence using the f-word in the Dáil, the inaugural broadcast could have been embarrassing, and Mr Ahern might even have been tempted to press the red button on his digital remote.

But so far this week, Fianna Fáil has not been rivalling Sky in the round-the-clock provision of breaking news. So it must have been a relieved Taoiseach who watched the giant screen in the National Gallery's Millennium Wing, as Ireland's latest TV news service premiered with a Government-friendly report about Charlie McCreevy capping the costs of State contracts.

The introduction also featured a live insert from Sky's Irish weather presenter, Lisa Burke, who was enjoying the "stunning evening" from the top of the Civic Offices, overlooking what she called "the life source of Dublin" (probably better known as the River Liffey). All told, it wasn't the most challenging opening to a news bulletin, but at least it didn't detract from Sky's party (and, importantly, it didn't detract from Bertie's party either). Only with a story about the huge cost of Luas did a potentially sour note creep into proceedings. By which time the hosts had lowered the volume on the big screen, and presenter Gráinne Seoige and her colleagues had become just a visual backdrop to the celebrations.

It was in reference to Ireland's EU Presidency that the Taoiseach praised the timing of Sky's arrival on the airwaves. Earlier yesterday, however, he had pressed the green button on the local elections campaign, and he will have been well aware that the new TV service is another battle-ground for candidates.

There were so many stations now, Mr Ahern quipped, that all politicians needed was "enough hours in the day to watch them all". Of course, one of the consolations of being Taoiseach is that he has a media-monitoring unit to watch them for him.

Sky's Irish news will go out twice nightly at 7p.m. and 10 p.m., and the bulletins will be available on a continuous loop after those times to digital subscribers. The station's news chief, Nick Pollard, said the service was the culmination of "seven months of hard work". He promised a "really attractive format", but added that the station was "still working hard to polish it".

Chief Whip Ms Mary Hanafin, Ministers of State Mr Noel Ahern and Mr Tom Parlon, and Dublin Lord Mayor Royston Brady were also at last night's event. Fine Gael Euro election candidate Mr Gay Mitchell TD and the Catholic Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, Dr Dermot Clifford were also there.

A new TV chat show, to be presented by Ryan Tubridy, will be broadcast on RTE One for 10 weeks, the station announced yesterday. The show will go out at 9.30 p.m. every Saturday from October until December.