The Irish and British governments today signed a deal to allow TG4 be broadcast from Belfast extending the reach of the Irish-language channel in the North.
The channel's broadcast currently reaches around 65 per cent of the North but the deal will extend its coverage to more than 95 per cent.
In a joint communiqué issued after a meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference in Dublin today, the governments said they had signed an agreement "granting authority for TG4 to use a UK frequency to broadcast in Northern Ireland."
It is estimated that there are 167,000 fluent Irish speakers in Northern Ireland.
The channel will be broadcast from an analogue transmitter on Divis mountain, overlooking Belfast and most parts of Northern Ireland can receive TG4 on standard television sets.
Cable company NTL will operate the service and both governments have agreed agreed to finance set-up costs of €130,000 and annual running costs of €23,000.
The broadcasting deal is one of the last remaining provisions contained within the Belfast Agreement to be implemented by the two governments.
As part of that agreement in 1998, both governments agreed to "explore urgently the scope for achieving more widespread availability of Teilifís na Gaeilge in Northern Ireland".
