Digital radio in the Republic of Ireland
Open-knowledge reference entry
Digital radio in the Republic of Ireland is currently broadcast on DAB+ and a number of digital terrestrial, cable and internet platforms.
Until 31 March 2021, official broadcasts of the full complement of radio services of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) using the DAB standard were available in the state.
In April 2025, a twelve-month DAB+ trial covering Dublin and the wider Leinster area was launched by FáilteDAB with the support of Coimisiún na Meán and ComReg. In January 2026, it was announced that beginning in April, the trial would be extended for a further 12 months and expanded beyond the original area to cover more than 85% of the population.
Digital Audio Broadcasting
Until 31 March 2021, the national public service broadcaster, RTÉ, operated a full-service DAB multiplex across a five transmitter network covering all major population centres and a total 52% of the population of the state.
Following the end of its DAB transmissions, RTÉ's digital stations – RTÉ Gold, RTÉ 2XM, RTÉ Radio 1 Extra, RTÉ Pulse, and RTÉjr Radio – which were originally created for the DAB network, remained available on Saorview and online. In November 2019, and again in November 2023, RTÉ announced that these stations (except RTÉ Gold) would be closed in order to reduce costs; they were finally closed on 31 December 2025.
Prior to this, a number of national multiplexes in the republic have ceased transmissions. A small number of unlicensed low-powered, small-scale DAB multiplexes did run in the state after the cessation of the RTÉ DAB multiplex, but they had all ceased by the summer of 2024.
Some areas near the border with Northern Ireland can receive overspill of BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Digital radio in the Republic of Ireland” is open-knowledge reference entry. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Digital, radio and Republic, not as a finished interpretation.
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This entry incorporates text from “Digital radio in the Republic of Ireland” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.