TV3 said it is looking to fill 40 vacancies, which would be open to the existing 61 staff of UTV Ireland to apply for.

TV3 recently confirmed that redundancies may be unavoidable following the takeover of UTV Ireland.

After two years on air, UTV Ireland is to be replaced by be3 from next month as part of TV3's new three channel line-up which was announced on Tuesday December 6.

TV3's new Group Director of Programming Bill Malone, when asked by independent.ie what will happen to the 61 staff at UTV Ireland, told the newspaper that there was an ongoing "consultation process" and staff would be invited to apply for the 40 new positions within the group.

The changes will be introduced on January 9 2017 following the recent completion of a €10 million takeover of UTV Ireland by TV3's owner Virgin Media.

In tandem with the launch of the Be3, the existing TV3 channels – the eponymous station and 3e – are to be given rebrands to position the channel as reaching to three specific demographics.

TV3 will be seen as the “grown ups channel” according to new Director of Programming Bill Malone (ex-RTÉ).

The formerly “unloved, underserved” 3e will become the “fun” channel, while Be3 will be “female focused” and incorporate family programming.

“TV3 will become the premium channel, the grown up channel, and 3e will become, well, what TV3 is now,” said Malone.

TV3 thus will show the group’s ‘flagship’ content, including Red Rock, Gogglebox Ireland, Celebrity Masterchef, and soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale.