TG4, the Irish language television channel, will mark its fifth anniversary this evening with a special schedule of programmes.
The station claims to have a 3 per cent share of the national audience with more than 730,000 viewers tunning in every day.
It says it has doubled its viewership in the past year alone.
Earlier in the week the Minister for Arts, Heritage, the Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, sanctioned an extra £2 million in funding for the station.
This brings to £18 million the station's budget for this year - almost double the funding approved when it was established.
The channel, which employs over 60 full-time staff, says it invests over £12 million annually in original programming from the independent production sector in Ireland. This investment it says supports over 350 posts in small independent production companies throughout the island.