A move that will extend the reach of TG4 to Irish speakers in the North has been welcomed.
SDLP Irish Language Spokesperson Dominic Bradley today welcomed the news that TG4 will begin broadcasting from Belfast in the spring.
A proposed international agreement between the British and Irish governments will enable the acclaimed station to broadcast from an analogue transmitter on Divis mountain, which overlooks Belfast, enabling all parts of the city and most of Northern Ireland to receive TG4 on standard television sets.
The station will then become available to the people in the North, including 167,000 Irish speakers.
Mr Bradley said: "This move is welcome, but it is long overdue considering it was a commitment made by both governments in the Good Friday Agreement.
"It is not purely a matter of Irish-language programming. TG4 provides unique coverage of cultural affairs loosely associated with the language and has proved highly innovative in many aspects of its programming.
Its popularity at all levels from music to sport shows that it has itself become a vibrant part of Irish culture," he said.