In the wake of the financial difficulties of Setanta GB, it was reported in June 2009 by RTÉ News that the original Setanta Sports channel, Setanta Ireland, might be bought out by an existing consortium who already hold interests in Setanta Sport Holdings Ltd., the Irish arm of Setanta Sports. Setanta Sports Ireland and Setanta Sports North America were the only brands which made a profit in 2008. In July 2009, the ownership structure of Setanta Sports Channel Ireland Limited changed. Setanta Sports Channel Ireland Limited was co-owned by Gaiety Investments with the remaining 40% share made up by Danu Partners Limited. The main shareholders in Danu are Michael O'Rourke, Leonard Ryan, and Mark O'Meara. Danu purchased 100% of the shares in Setanta Sports North America Limited which was disposed of in early 2010. Setanta Sports Channel Ireland Limited is licensed by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. The Setanta business in Ireland has managed to survive, making a strong recovery since the adversity in Great Britain. The company continued its resurrection by employing a further 50 employees in February 2010. Colin Morgan, formerly CEO of Quinn Direct Insurance, joined the Setanta Ireland business in October 2010. In June 2013 it was announced that Setanta Sports would carry the new BT Sport channels as part of its overall sports package for Irish viewers. The deal added 38 live Premier League games to its television package and brought to 71 the total number of top-flight English matches on offer to Irish subscribers for the following three years. In 2015, it was announced that Eir were in the process of buying Setanta's remaining Irish operations. The deal also included the sale of the Setanta Sports Pack which includes BT Sport. On 5 July 2016, Setanta Sports was renamed Eir Sport.
In addition to the television channels above, Eir Sport also distributes the following BT Sport channels in the Republic of Ireland: BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2, BT Sport 3, BT Sport ESPN and BoxNation
Sports coverage
The Eir Sport pack offers commercial venues in several countries around the world programming of sports such as football, gaelic football, hurling, golf, cricket, Australian rules football, boxing, NHL ice hockey and rugby union and league. In May 2018, it was announced that Eir Sport would broadcast all 152 games in the Pro14 rugby union competition from the 2018-19 season after agreeing a three-year deal.
Availability
Eir Sport services are included in the cost of the Eir Sport package on Eir Broadband. Eir Sport services are also available through Sky Ireland, Eir TV and Vodafone TV. The channels were previously available to the customers of what is now Virgin Media Ireland. In February 2010, the Setanta Ireland channel was available to entire subscribers of the cable TV provider as a basic channel in Ireland, around 1.3 million homes but actually in about 530,000. From August 2016, Virgin Media Ireland no longer has Eir Sport channels available to customers.
