Updated 1.41pm

TV3 HAS ANNOUNCED details of its new soap – the first homegrown show of its type the channel has ever produced.

The series will have the working title Red Rock, and will reach our screens in January 2015.

It will be set in a fictional harbour town on the Dublin coast. TV3 said the show will centre around two families in the town, as seen through the eyes of the local police precinct.

Shooting will begin in October on the series, which will be broadcast twice a week. Two episodes of the show – which will eventually employ more than 100 people, the channel said - are said to have been written already.

Red Rock will be created by Irish writer Peter McKenna, who has previously worked on EastEnders and Holby City. It will be under the control of Irish film company Element Pictures – the outfit behind The Guard, What Richard Did and The Wind That Shakes The Barley.

The details came as part of a major schedule announcement for TV3, which is facing pressure after losing future rights to Coronation Street to new channel UTV Ireland.

TV3 said the new schedule involves spending more money on original content than acquisitions for the first time.