Irish Independent
 | This article needs to beupdated.(February 2020) |
 Irish Independentfront page on 24 November 2005 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Compact |
| Owner(s) | Mediahuis Ireland,a subsidiary ofMediahuis |
| Editor | Cormac Bourke |
| Founded | January 1905 (replacedDaily Irish Independent) |
| Political alignment | Conservative |
| Headquarters | Talbot Street,Dublin,Ireland |
| Circulation | 36,000[1] |
| ISSN | 0021-1222 |
| Website | independent |
TheIrish Independentis anIrishdailynewspaperand online publication which is owned byIndependent News & Media(INM), a subsidiary ofMediahuis.
The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines.[2]
Traditionally abroadsheetnewspaper, it introduced an additionalcompactsize in 2004. Further, in December 2012 (following billionaireDenis O'Brien's takeover) it was announced that the newspaper would become compact only.[3]
History[edit]
Murphy and family (1905–1973)[edit]
TheIrish Independentwas formed in 1905 as the direct successor toThe Irish Daily Independent and Daily Nation,an 1890s' pro-Parnellitenewspaper. It was launched byWilliam Martin Murphy,a controversial Irish nationalist businessman, staunch anti-Parnelliteand fellow townsman of Parnell's most venomous opponent,Timothy Michael Healyfrom Bantry.[4]The first issue of theIrish Independent,published 2 January 1905, was marked as "Vol. 14. No. 1".
During the1913 Lockoutof workers, in which Murphy was the leading figure among the employers, theIrish Independentvigorously sided with its owner's interests, publishing news reports and opinion pieces hostile to the strikers, expressing confidence in the unions' defeat and launching personal attacks on the leader of the strikers,James Larkin.The Irish Independentdescribed the1916 Easter Risingas "insane and criminal" and famously called for the shooting of its leaders.[5]In December 1919, during theIrish War of Independence,a group of twentyIRAmen destroyed the printing works of the paper, angered at its criticism of theIrish Republican Army's attacks on members of theDublin Metropolitan Policeand British government officials.[6]In 1924, the traditional nationalist newspaper, theFreeman's Journal,merged with theIrish Independent.Until October 1986 the paper's masthead over the editorial contained the words "incorporating the Freeman's Journal".[7]
For most of its history, theIrish Independent(also called simply theIndependentor more colloquially, theIndo) was seen as a nationalist, Catholic,anti-Communist,newspaper,[8]which gave its political allegiance to thePro-TreatypartyCumann na nGaedhealand later its successor party,Fine Gael.[8]During the Spanish Civil War, theIrish Independent's coverage was strongly pro-Franco:the paper criticised the De Valera government for not intervening on behalf of theSpanish Nationalists.[9]
In 1961, theharpbecame a symbol of theIrish Independent.It originally appeared in black but was changed to green in 1972.
O'Reilly (1973–2012)[edit]
In the 1970s, formerHeinzchairmanTony O'Reillytook over theIrish Independent.Under his leadership, it became a moremarket liberalnewspaper and economic right-wing. By the mid-nineties its allegiance to Fine Gael had ended. In the1997 general election,it endorsedFianna Fáilunder a front-page editorial, entitled "It's Payback Time". While it suggested its headline referred to the fact that the election offered a chance to "pay back" politicians for their failings, its opponents suggested that the "payback" actually referred to its chance to get revenge for the refusal of theRainbow Coalitionto award the company a mobile phone licence.[10]
In late 2004, Independent Newspapers moved from their traditional home in Middle Abbey Street to a new office, Independent House inTalbot Street,with the printing facilities already relocated to theCitywestbusiness park nearTallaght.
On 27 September 2005, a fortnight after the paper published its centenary edition, it was announced that editor Vinnie Doyle would step down after 24 years in the position. He was replaced by Gerry O'Regan, who had until then been editor of theIrish Independent's sister paper, theEvening Herald.The newspaper's previous editorStephen Raewas also formerly editor of theEvening Heraldand was appointed editor in September 2012. Fionnan Sheahan was appointed editor in January 2015.[11]
O'Brien (2012–2019)[edit]
BillionaireDenis O'Brienacquired a majority shareholding of theIrish Independent's parent company INM in May 2012.[12]
Mediahuis (2019–present)[edit]
In July 2019 the takeover of INM by Belgian media groupMediahuiswas approved by the Irish High Court.[13]
From 11 February 2020, it was announced that Independent.ie content would go behind a paywall.[14]
Digital archives[edit]
The Irish Independent is available on theIrish Newspaper Archives,in black-and-white microfilm up to 2004, in colour since 2005. It is also archived up to 2009 online on theBritish Newspaper Archivewebsite.
New Irish Writing and Hennessy Award[edit]
Since 2011, theIrish Independenthas been the home of New Irish Writing (and its associated Hennessy Award),[15]which was originally established byDavid Marcusin 1969 in theIrish Pressand appeared in theSunday Tribunefrom 1988 to 2011. The New Irish Writing Page is "the longest-running creative writing feature of its kind in any Irish or British newspaper".[16][17]
Exam Brief[edit]
The Irish Independent,in co-operation with theInstitute of Education,producesExam Brief,a yearly six-part supplement dedicated to preparation for Leaving and Junior Certificate exams.[18]This supplement is published in February, March and April each year.
Related papers and concerns[edit]
SeeIndependent News & Mediaarticle for newspapers and media assets in the wider group.
Print circulation[edit]
Averageprint circulationwas approximately 165,000 copies per issue in 1999,[19]and had dropped to approximately 100,000 by 2016.[20]
| Year (period) | Average circulation per issue |
|---|---|
| 1999 (January to July)[19] | 165,650
|
| 2006 (January to December)[21] | 162,582
|
| 2009 (July to December)[22] | 149,906
|
| 2012 (January to June)[23] | 125,986
|
| 2012 (July to December)[24] | 123,981
|
| 2014 (January to June)[25] | 112,383
|
| 2016 (January to June)[20] | 102,537
|
| 2016 (July to December)[26] | 97,104
|
| 2017 (January to June)[27] | 94,502
|
| 2017 (July to December)[28] | 90,107
|
| 2018 (January to June)[29] | 87,673
|
| 2018 (July to December)[30] | 83,900
|
| 2023 (March)[31] | 36,000
|
In 2019,Independent News & Mediaexited the ABC auditing process.[32]
References[edit]
- ^"Some Newspaper Sales update".27 June 2023.
- ^"Who is the greatest Irish footballer of all – see if you agree with our choice".Irish Independent.30 November 2012.Retrieved30 November2012.
The Legends is the third glossy magazine and iMag produced by the Irish Independent in just over a week after 'The Gathering' publication and our 'Mistletoe' Christmas special.
- ^"A message from the editor to you, our reader".Irish Independent.21 December 2012.Retrieved15 April2013.
- ^Andy Bielenberg,Entrepreneurship, Power, and Public Opinion in Ireland: The career of William Martin Murphy.
- ^Easter Rising newspaper archiveArchived9 April 2016 at theWayback Machine—from theBBCHistory website
- ^"Following a report on the assassination of the Lord Lieutenant... the IRA attacked the offices of the (Irish Independent) the following day". Ian Kenneally,The Paper Wall: Newspapers and Propaganda in Ireland 1919–1921.Dublin, Collins Press. 2008,ISBN1905172583(p. 105).
- ^"Irish Independent masthead containing 'Incorporating the Freeman's Journal'".IrishNewsArchive.Retrieved25 November2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^ab"During the Free State Period, theIndependentwas characterised by a triumphalist strain of Catholicism, virulent anti-Communism and support for the Pro-Treaty Party. "Fearghal McGarry,"Irish Newspapers and the Spanish Civil War",Irish Historical Studies,Vol. 33, No. 129 (May 2002), pp. 68–90.
- ^Fearghal McGarry, "Irish Newspapers and the Spanish Civil War",Irish Historical Studies,Vol. 33, No. 129 (May 2002), pp. 68–90.
- ^Irish ExaminerarchivesArchived8 May 2009 at theWayback Machine—O'Reilly 'took revenge in editorial'. 2 December 2002
- ^"INM appoints two new editors to Irish Independent and Sunday Independent".The Irish Independent.9 January 2015.
- ^"Denis O'Brien buys another 5% stake in Independent News & Media".RTÉ Business.3 May 2012.Retrieved17 September2020.
- ^Donnelly, Ellie (30 July 2019)."Court approves INM takeover by Mediahuis".Irish Independent.
- ^Burns, John (2 February 2020)."Outside chances of new Sindo Boss Alan English".The Times.
- ^Vanessa O'Loughlin, "New Irish Writing"Archived21 March 2016 at theWayback Machine,Writing.ie.
- ^"Your chance to join the ranks of our best writers".The Irish Independent.25 March 2012.
- ^"New home for New Irish Writing and the Hennessy Award",Writing4all.ie.
- ^"Exam Brief".Irish Independent. Archived fromthe originalon 5 October 2009.Retrieved5 March2011.
- ^ab"Good times begin to roll for hard-pressed newspaper sector".The Irish Times.
- ^ab"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived(PDF)from the original on 19 September 2016.Retrieved18 August2016.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^"Irish Times, Sunday Business Post circulation down 30% since 2006".finfacts.ie.
- ^Slattery, Laura."Fall in circulation for all of Republic's daily newspapers".The Irish Times.
- ^"Irish Morning Newspaper ABC Circulations, Jan–June 2012 – SEO Ireland, Search Engine Optimisation, Media and Marketing Consulting".ilevel.ie.Archived fromthe originalon 22 February 2019.Retrieved26 August2012.
- ^"Morning Newspapers ABC July–Dec 2012 – SEO Ireland, Search Engine Optimisation, Media and Marketing Consulting".ilevel.ie.Archived fromthe originalon 12 February 2018.Retrieved23 February2013.
- ^"The Irish Independent Newspaper Circulation".bywire.news. 10 December 2020.Retrieved10 December2020.
- ^"Certificate"(PDF).abc.org.uk.Retrieved11 April2020.
- ^"Certificate"(PDF).abc.org.uk.Retrieved11 April2020.
- ^Doyle, Conor."Irish Newspaper Circulation July-Dec 2017 Island of Ireland Report – Media and Marketing Consulting, PPC, SEO Ireland, Search Engine Optimisation".ilevel.ie.Archived fromthe originalon 6 November 2018.Retrieved22 February2018.
- ^"Certificate"(PDF).abc.org.uk.Retrieved11 April2020.
- ^"Certificate"(PDF).abc.org.uk.Retrieved11 April2020.
- ^"Some Newspaper Sales update".27 June 2023.
- ^"Irish Newspaper Circulation Jan-June 2019 Island of Ireland Report Print".22 August 2019.
External links[edit]
