Sky broadcasts last Irish news show

SKY News Ireland aired its final twice-nightly bulletins last night.

While no announcement was made on its final bulletin at 10pm read by Ray Kennedy last night, sources at the news station have confirmed that they will no longer air the twice-nightly programme.

In a statement earlier this week, Sky News said it was looking to ‘refocus its coverage’ of Irish news by integrating the output of its Dublin and Belfast bureaux with the main, London-based channel.

At that point it was not expected to cease broadcasting for four weeks with the loss of some 24 jobs in its Dublin and Belfast offices.

However, last night a source confirmed the staff had been given the choice of whether they would continue to air through the month of November or cease immediately and they had decided on the second option. News anchors, correspondents, producers and technicians will be affected.

Sky News Ireland was launched two years ago, at a cost of some €5 million per annum. However, the twice-nightly bulletins failed to seriously compete with RTÉ and TV3, attracting only 8,000 viewers for its 6.30pm bulletin and 17,000 for the 10pm bulletin this year.

However, a spokesman denied the decision was taken because of low viewing figures, and said the curtailment of the Irish service had the support of senior executives.

It is expected that the Dublin office with 25 employees will be staffed by five from December onwards, while the Belfast office will be reduced from a staff of five to one.