The Irish News is a compact daily newspaper based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest-selling morning newspaper and is available throughout Ireland.[3] It is broadly Irish nationalist in its viewpoint, though it also features unionist columnists.

The Irish News
The Irish News, 23 February 2007
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatOriginally Broadsheet, then Berliner but Compact since 2005
Owner(s)Fitzpatrick family
Founder(s)Bishop Patrick MacAlister
PublisherThe Irish News Ltd[1]
EditorNoel Doran
Founded15 August 1891
Political alignmentCentreCentre-left
Irish nationalism
(with Liberal Unionist columnists)
LanguageEnglish, Irish
HeadquartersFountain Centre, College Street
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Circulation23,615 (as of 2023)[2]
Websitewww.irishnews.com Edit this at Wikidata
Irish News, Donegall Street, July 2010

History edit

The Irish News is the only independently-owned daily newspaper based in Northern Ireland, and has been so since its launch on 15 August 1891 as an anti-Parnell newspaper by Patrick MacAlister.[4] It merged with the Belfast Morning News in August 1892, and the full title of the paper has since been The Irish News and Belfast Morning News.[5][6] T.P. Campbell was editor from 1895 until 1906, when he was succeeded by Tim McCarthy, who served as editor until 1928. Appointed in 1999, Noel Doran is the current editor.

The Irish News saw a dramatic growth in its circulation with the beginning of The Troubles in 1969;[3] this peaked around the time of the peak in violence in 1971, and declined thereafter.[citation needed]

In June 1982, the paper came under the control of the company's present owners.[3][7]

In May 2023, the newspaper moved from its premises at 113-117 Donegall Street, its home for more than a century, and relocated to modern offices on College Street. The Irish News's departure from Donegall Street marks the end of the street's association with print journalism, which earned it the nickname of Belfast's Fleet Street. The Donegall Street building was sold to Ulster University.[8]

In September 2023, it got its first new look since March 2005.

Circulation edit

Year (period) Average circulation per issue
2002 (June to December)[9]
52,066
2007 (January to June)[10]
48,613
2008 (January to June)[10]
47,911
2011 (July to December)[11]
41,932
2013 (January to June)[12]
40,842
2017 (July to December)[13]
34,082
2018 (July to December)[14]
32,315

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "About Us". 12 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Irish News – Morning". Audit Bureau of Circulations (UK). 28 February 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "About the Irish News". The Irish News. 12 March 2015.
  4. ^ Ambrose Macaulay. Patrick McAlister Bishop of Down and Connor 1886-1895. Four Courts Press Ltd, Dublin, Ireland 2006
  5. ^ "Belfast Morning News". National Library of Ireland.
  6. ^ "Irish News". National Library of Ireland.
  7. ^ "Jim Fitzpatrick". The Irish Times. 20 October 1997.(subscription required)
  8. ^ Kelly, James (27 May 2023). "Irish News move marks the end of Belfast's Fleet Street". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  9. ^ "Northern Ireland: Will the press still flourish in peacetime?". Press Gazette. 11 May 2006. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Circulation of 'Irish Times' increases". The Irish Times. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2020.(subscription required)
  11. ^ Meban, Alan (1 March 2012). "Dead tree circulation continues to decline – Belfast Telegraph dropping at nearly twice rate of News Letter & Irish News". Slugger O'Toole.
  12. ^ Cunningham, Simon (23 August 2013). "Irish News comes out tops in latest circulation". The Irish News.(subscription required)
  13. ^ Linford, Paul (14 March 2018). "JP dailies post circulation rises as ABC figures unveiled". HoldTheFrontPage. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Irish News Morning July to December 2018" (PDF). ABC.

External links edit