6 January – It is reported that Seán Gallagher, a former candidate in the 2011 Irish presidential election is launching legal proceedings against RTÉ over an incident in its Frontline Presidential Debate in which a tweet was wrongly attributed to the official Twitter account of the Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness.[1] 7 January – Debut of TV3's first self-produced drama, Deception, set on a post-Celtic Tiger housing estate in Galway.[2][3] 30 January – Former Channel 5 Director of Programmes Jeff Ford has been hired by TV3 to become their new Director of Content, a position he will take up in February.[4] 31 January – Figures published by TAM Ireland/Nielsen indicate viewers in Ireland watched an average of 3.35 hours of television per day (25 hours a week) in 2012.[5]