The figure is a considerable increase from the 15 Premiership games broadcast this season. 

The station has secured 12 matches - known 'Package C' games - with Monday 8pm or Saturday evening (5.15pm) / Sunday lunch-time (1.30pm) kick-off times.

All remaining 34 games, which fall under the 'Package D' category, hold Saturday evening and Sunday lunch-time starts.

The rights run for three seasons, commencing August 2007 at a cost of stg£392 (€572 m).

The European Commission recently ruled that BSkyB's current exclusivity with Premiership matches was anti-competitive and that at least one of the six match 'packages' must go to another broadcaster.

Setanta said last month it would bid for two packages. The pay-TV company, 40 per cent owned by private equity group Benchmark Capital, said it was interested in bidding at the "lower end of the scale".

BSkyB owns the current packages of live matches running until 2007, under a £1.024bn deal agreed in 2003. The broadcaster has held the live rights to Premiership football in England since 1992.

The Rupert Murdoch controlled company also agreed a new deal today, paying £1.3 billion (€1.9bn) for 92 matches. This represents the remainig five packages.

Setanta Sport's director of sport, Trevor East, said: "We are committed to providing a first-class sports service to our customers and the FAPL is a jewel in any broadcaster's crown. It will ensure that Setanta Sports is a must-have sports channel for all football fans."

The deal represents another coup for the firm set up in 2000 by joint chief executives Michael O'Rourke and Leonard Ryan as they increase there presence in the international broadcasting market.

Setanta already holds rights to leading international sporting properties in different markets including the premier leagues in Scotland, France, Germany, Italy, Holland. 

They also screen a number of domestic eircom league games as well as the cross-border Setanta Sports Cup, which, of course, they sponsor.