Under the deal with the Sportfive agency, RTÉ has also committed to broadcast coverage of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics on its RTÉ News Now 24-hour news network.

This will feature live coverage of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as a daily highlights programme.

Ryle Nugent, RTÉ's head of sport, said: "Building on from the success of RTÉ's comprehensive coverage of the London 2012 Games, we are looking forward to being able to bring the Irish public a wide-ranging level of Olympic coverage across all our platforms once again.

"The London 2012 Olympics really captured the Irish public's hearts and minds, with hugely successful performances by a number of our athletes.

"Whilst in line with our commitment to reduce our sports rights budget, this deal represents a significant investment by RTÉ, particularly in the current economic climate.

"As the national public service broadcaster, we are proud to provide free-to-air coverage of such a major international event, featuring Irish competitors alongside some of the best athletes in the world, and we feel that it is a key part of our public service remit."

RTÉ Sports analysts for London included Bernard Dunne, Ailis McSweeney, Andrew Bree, Mairead Kavanagh and Kenneth Egan

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) sold broadcasting rights for 2014 and 2016 for most European markets, including the 2014 host Russia, to Sportfive for $315 million (£202 million/€250 million) in 2009.

This followed a breakdown in talks between the IOC and the European Broadcast Union (EBU).

Six major European markets - France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the UK - were kept separate from this agreement.

The first Olympics to be shown on Irish television were the 1964 Tokyo Games.