RTÉ, the main source for Election 2011 coverage

Huge national and international interest in this historic general election was reflected in ratings and online traffic for RTÉ's multi-platform Election 2011 coverage.

RTÉ's digital platforms attracted almost 23 million views over the last three days alone.

It was RTÉ's most extensive election coverage ever and was geared to serve both a national and global audience. There were multi-media options for audiences to follow results instantly, via RTÉ Online, Television, Radio, Aertel, Digital out-of-home and mobile and smart-phone services. The latest count information was available through RTÉ Elections on Twitter and Facebook.

In order to best deliver to its audiences, RTÉ deployed its biggest ever results-gathering resources. Our data computer system, custom-designed to process Ireland's unique multi-party PR system of voting, delivered results instantly, on a constituency, regional and national level. It also delivered immediate analysis and comparison data across all platforms.

The marathon coverage on RTÉ One Television drew large audiences on Saturday. Starting at 11.00am, audience figures steadily increased to reach a peak viewership of over 850,000 people during the Nine O'Clock News.

A total of 24 live Outside Broadcast and Satellite Units combined, for the first time, with broadband technology, gave the most rapid transmission of results as they happened. And with this new technology available, for the first time on television, a 'whip round' to all 43 constituencies was made possible as the earliest tallies became available.

Over 600,000 people stayed with RTÉ One as the extraordinary political events unfolded. Coverage continued until after 3.00am, with an average of over 100,000 staying with the programme after midnight.

The extraordinary reach figure for all RTÉ News and Current Affairs programming was over 2.7 million* - an increase of over half a million from Election 2007.

Viewers continued to follow events on RTÉ Television on Sunday with an average of almost a quarter of a million people watching Election 2011 from 11.00am until 3.30pm.

The Week in Politics at 10.30pm yesterday attracted an audience of over 360,000 and it was followed by a round up of the election results - The Final Count -which, despite finishing after midnight - attracted an audience of over 264,000 people.

RTÉ's digital coverage of the Election 2011 weekend received record traffic across all platforms. There were almost 19 million page views of RTÉ.ie from 1.1 million browsers (devices), which was double the performance delivered during the 2007 General Election.

The specially designed constituency map, which was updated count-by-count to give the latest results, proved to be hugely popular with approximately 4.5million views across the whole weekend. And RTÉ reporters based in all 43 constituencies gave added value with instant updates via Twitter to the constituency pages.

Additionally, RTÉ's 24 hour rolling news service, News Now, witnessed its highest ever usage with 182,000 streams served.

For the first time, a dedicated 24-hour social media desk was set up in RTÉ. This involved releasing breaking news, election updates and engaging in conversations with close to 3,000 Facebook followers and 12,000 followers on Twitter.

On RTÉ Radio 1, which first broadcast the results of the RTÉ Exit Poll commissioned by Millward Brown/Lansdowne at 8.00am on Saturday morning, listeners stayed with the programme around the clock until after 3.00am on Sunday. As with coverage on Raidió na Gaeltachta, the marathon feat of programming with Sean O'Rourke and Rachael English brought results, analysis and excitement from every count centre and constituency across the country.

Not only did these teams bring live and up-to-date count coverage to listeners via the airwaves but there was plenty of interaction with the electorate via RTÉ Radio's websites and Twitter feeds, so much so that @rteradio1 trended 4 times on count day.

For the first time there was a bespoke Radio Election webpage; in addition to the live RTÉ Radio 1 Twitter feed, listeners could listen back to the Election Special in two-hourly segments, which was welcomed by many commentators and users abroad.

A behind-the-scenes video, produced by Radio, captured the day. RTÉ Radio 1's Twitter feed was run in shifts until 3.30 am on Sunday morning. Programming continued with Morning Ireland on Sunday morning at 8.00am for an hour and Election 2011 returned from 10.00 am until 1.00pm. At 1.00 - 2.00pm This Week with Gavin Jennings and Colm Ó Mongáin continued with election coverage and political interviews and later yesterday evening a This Week Special was broadcast at 6.00pm.