Grá ar an Trá leads Virgin Media Television line-up as broadcaster turns 25

Virgin Media Television (VMTV) is poised to invite viewers into its new “love teach” (love house) as dating series Grá ar an Trá claims its place on an upcoming line-up packed out by the Rugby World Cup and the return of Big Brother.

The broadcaster revealed clips from the show at an event in Dublin to promote its new season of programmes, which also includes sustainability-themed home makeover show The Salvage Squad, presented by Brian Dowling, and – in a change of tone – the three-part factual series Confessions of a Crime Boss.

Featuring 10 single people “put through their paces to learn Irish and find love”, Grá ar an Trá (Love on the Beach) will bestow a €10,000 prize on “the couple with the most focail” in a debut run made by production company Macalla and presented by Gráinne Seoige, Síomha Ní Ruairc and James Kavanagh.

Ms Seoige – hailed as an “icon” by Mr Kavanagh – played a prominent role in the first day on air for the former TV3 channel (now Virgin Media One) on September 20th, 1998. The 25th anniversary of this launch will be marked by a special celebrity edition of Gogglebox Ireland, Virgin said.

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The Kite Entertainment show will be back for a ninth run, while another VMTV stalwart, Lucy Kennedy’s Living with Lucy, also returns. “Landmark factual” shows include a dramatic new series of The Guards, as well as Born Too Soon, for which the makers gained access to the neo-natal wards at Cork University Hospital.

“I think it shows the breadth we have across the schedule. We are never just one note,” said Anthony Nilan, VMTV’s head of content strategy.

Virgin expects to attract substantial audiences in the weeks ahead thanks to the Rugby World Cup, the rights to which it shares with RTÉ. The broadcaster’s evening schedules have been buoyed in recent weeks by increased Irish interest in the World Athletics Championships, which Mr Nilan said had been “really, really super” for VMTV.

It has also acquired ITV’s Big Brother revival and the new Davina McCall-hosted format My Mum, Your Dad – dubbed a “Love Island for oldies”.

While Grá ar an Trá has similarly been described as an Irish language version of Love Island, Mr Nilan said the series took “a very different approach” and tone.

The Ballymount-based broadcaster, part of Liberty Global-owned telecoms and pay-TV company Virgin Media Ireland, has worked to develop “a very distinct, confident tone of voice” in collaboration with the independent sector, he said.

“Grá ar an Trá is one of those shows that I think we could only make now.”