Rally Ireland, which will this year host the World Rally Championship (WRC) in Ireland for the first time, yesterday welcomed a report showing that television viewing figures for the WRC had increased for the fifth year in a row to more than 800 million viewers.

"This is superb news for WRC and for Rally Ireland in our inaugural year in the world championship," said promoter Seán O'Connor.

"The cumulative global television audience for WRC has increased by 46 per cent in the last five years, with over 4,500 dedicated hours of coverage for the championship worldwide."

The Irish stage of the championship, which is estimated to be worth about €46 million to the economy, will take place on November 15th-18th.