RTE says 724,000 people watched the first episode of Charlie last night, taking a 43.5 per cent audience share for the new drama telling the story of former Taoiseach Charlie Haughey.

An additional 21,000 watched the first part of the three part drama on RTE One +1.

The drama has attracted 13,000 streams on RTE Player.

Speaking about the viewing figures, Adrian Lynch, Channel Controller for RTÉ One, said: "This is great start to 2015 for RTE One."

Ahead of last night's airing Newstalk's Sunday Show spoke with writer of Charlie Colin Teevan, who said that Haughey "embodies a reflection of who we are as a culture."

Meanwhile, this afternoon Henry McKean from Moncrieff went out to the streets of Dublin to gauge public memories of Haughey, with one man telling him: "I always supported him, I call him 'a good gangsta'. He was the only one who could stand up to Maggie Thatcher, she was more afraid of him than he was of her."