Sky Ireland attracted 70,000 new Irish subscribers last year, bringing its customer base to half a million. This figure equates to an impressive 1,346 per week.

One of the factors behind the growth in revenues is the popularity of Sky's high definition (HD) service and Sky+ digital recorder package among Irish viewers. Unlike standard Sky boxes, in both cases viewers have to pay the company an additional onceoff fee of up to 449 for a HD unit. Until recently Sky also charged an additional subscription fee of 15 per month for its Sky+ recording service.

Although Sky does not release official revenue figures for Ireland, the growth of the Irish operation is reflected in its corporate accounts.

According to Sky's figures, approximately 5% of its revenue last year was denominated in euros, almost all of which came from Irish subscribers.

This figure rose from 3% the previous year, when Sky netted around 230m in euro payments.

This growth outstripped that experienced by Sky's British operations, where revenue grew by around 7% last year. However, Sky's average revenue per user is understood to be higher in the British market, where it offers tripleplay bundles combining TV, phone and broadband services.