RTE to resume broadcasting news bulletins in Northern Ireland

RTE is to resume broadcasting news bulletins in Northern Ireland, which had been blocked due to a rights issue relating to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Viewers in Northern Ireland who tuned into the Irish national broadcaster for its main news bulletins on Wednesday were shown a message that the content was blocked in their region.

One message said: “This programme cannot be streamed due to rights restrictions.”

Viewers in Northern Ireland are normally able to watch the full RTE news bulletins, but occasionally sporting events which are also broadcast on UK channels are not made available.

On Thursday, RTE confirmed that the regional block was due to the bulletins containing footage from the Paris Olympics, as the BBC holds the rights to broadcast that material in Northern Ireland.

It later released a statement confirming the broadcasting of bulletins in Northern Ireland would resume.

While the official opening ceremony for the games is on Friday, Ireland competed in rugby sevens matches on Wednesday and Thursday and the sport section of the televised bulletins contained reports on the Olympics.

In a statement, the Irish broadcaster said: “RTE has rights to broadcast the 2024 Olympic Games in the Republic of Ireland only.

“RTE is not permitted to broadcast the 2024 Olympic Games in Northern Ireland.

“However, RTE will resume broadcast of its news bulletins in Northern Ireland, including news from the Olympic Games.

“Broadcast rights for Northern Ireland are held by the BBC as part of a deal made with Discovery, the pan-European rights holder, back in 2016.”

Sinn Fein MP Daire Hughes said it was the “right and sensible decision” by RTE.

He said: “This will ensure citizens here can continue to stay up to date with political, economic and social developments happening throughout Ireland.

“Despite this, the question must be asked – why were northern viewers blocked in the first instance?

“It’s important that, as a national broadcaster, RTE is accessible to all across the entire island.

“It’s simply not good enough that RTE will continue to geo-block coverage of Team Ireland competing in the Olympic Games despite more than 30 northerners representing the national team.

“RTE is a publicly-funded body and I will be seeking a meeting with the Minster for Media and the RTE director general to discuss bringing the insidious practice of geo-blocking northern citizens to an end.”