A New Irish American cable channel may beam Irish events to homes around the US as early as next Spring.

The ‘Ireland Today’ channel is a joint venture of Londonderry ex-pat, Tony Culley-Foster and Frederick Thomas, CEO of MHZ Networks, the company behind Al Jazeera.

Speaking about the joint venture, Culley-Foster, told the Belfast Telegraph that the new channel will broadcast news, current affairs, international events and cultural happenings to 35,000 households in America.

“The channel will initially broadcast for four hours a day but will run 24/7 before the end of 2013.

“We met with the Culture Company while Frederick Thomas and I were in Ireland from July 9 to 14 to talk about launching a new television channel called Ireland Today.

“We came away from that meeting feeling very enthusiastic. The Culture Company put on a superb presentation and Mr Thomas left with an exceptionally favourable opinion of the north west and its ability to deliver the content we are looking for."

The Derry native, who recently carried the Olympic Flame through Magheramason, said he is dedicated to the making the project a reality.

“I have been in America for the past 40 years but I get home to Derry at least three or four times a year. I have been very impressed by the high level of quality work that is being done to put Derry on the map, and the development of this TV channel will contribute to that and I am playing my part to make sure it happens.”

“The City of Culture events fit the criteria for the content perfectly. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the city and it was my goal that the content from the north west is included in Ireland Today.”