Virgin Media has confirmed they will no longer offer eir Sport as part of their TV package. This means customers will lose out on a lot of live coverage. 

Virgin Media, formerly UPC, posted a statement online yesterday detailing what changes are on the way:

This means that from August 1st, Virgin customers will not have access to five channels from eir Sport and BT Sport, as it is part of the eir Sport bundle. 

In, what can only be described as a comprehensive Q&A on their site, Virgin Media laid out how and why they've come to this decision:

"The number of Barclays premier league matches broadcast by Setanta Sports/ BT sports will reduce from 71 to 42 games from the start of the 2016/17 season this August. In discussions with Setanta it was not possible to agree terms with the broadcaster to allow us to offer you the eir Sport/Setanta Sports channels at a reasonable price."

From August, customers on the basic package will notice channel 105, eir Sport 1, disappear from their service. Subscribers to the eir Sport offering will no longer be charged for the service from August.   

Additional reporting by Daniel Kelly.