694,000 adults turned in to the weather after the 9pm news, while the News itself was seen by 595,000 people.

In the battle of the soaps Eastenders came out on top with 458,000 adults watching Stacy’s departure from Albert Square. Fair City was not far behind with 453,500 while Coronation Street was TV3’s top show with 353,000.

The ROI data for UTV & BBC is not available yet but it’s likely that at least another 200,000 watched Eastenders on BBC1.

“This is Joe Dolan” did well for TG4 and was seen by 131,000 (10% share).

The after dinner choice for those not able to play Wii Fit was Shrek The Third (RTE1) with 290,000 adults viewing.

In the UK Eastenders drew an average of 11.4m (43.2%) for BBC One in the 8pm hour. The figure is up more than 500k on the soap's Christmas Day performance last year.

Source: TAM Ireland Ltd/ Nielsen TAM, Live data, National Adults, Barb (UK-overnights), Dec 25.

     Top 10 Programme Christmas Day (Irish Stations)