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Irish Daily Star

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This article is about a daily newspaper in theRepublic of Ireland.For other uses, seeDaily Star (disambiguation).

Irish Daily Star
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatIrish Tabloid
Owner(s)Reach plc
PublisherReach plc
EditorNeil Leslie[1]
Founded29 February 1988(1988-02-29)
HeadquartersIndependent House,
Talbot Street,
Dublin 1,
Ireland
Circulation21,940[2](as of May 2023)[3]
Websitethestar.ieandbuzz.ie[4]

TheIrish Daily Star(formerly known simply asThe Star) is atabloidnewspaper published in Ireland byReach plc,[5]which owns the BritishDaily Star.

TheIrish Daily Starbecame known for its comprehensive in-depth coverage of and thorough focus on crime, often featuring sensational coverage. It also focuses heavily on celebrity matters, and has a large sports section. Between 2003 and 2011, a Sunday edition was published, asIrish Daily Star Sunday.Like its British tabloid counterpart, theIrish Daily Starhas a red-top mast head.

History[edit]

First published on 29 February 1988, nominally the paper was the Irish version of the UK tabloidDaily Star.It did, however, contain more Irish content than any similar Irish editions of the UK national newspapers. The tabloid had strong nationalist leanings, claiming on its slogan to be "Better... because we're Irish".

The newspaper's offices were located inTerenure,Dublin 6W, until November 2010. They then relocated to Building 4 of theDundrum Town Centrecomplex.The Staremploys 70 staff directly.[6]The controlling editor of the paper for many years wasGerard Colleran,who often appears on television programmes such asTonight with Vincent Browne.Michael O'Kane took over from Colleran as editor of theIrish Daily Staron 25 November 2011. Colleran then became managing director of the tabloid.

In September 2018,Reach plc,publisher of theMirror,acquired the 50% stake formally owned byNorthern & Shell.[7]

In April 2020, the editor Eoin Brannigan left theIrish Daily Star.[8][9]

In July 2020, it was announced thatIndependent News & Mediahad reached an agreement to sell their 50% stake in Independent Star toReach plc.The agreement is subject to competition authority approval and is expected to close in late 2020.[10]

In November 2020, the acquisition of the 50% stake owned byIndependent News & Mediawas approved by the regulator and the minister.[5]

Content[edit]

While theDaily Starfocuses almost exclusively on celebrity content, theIrish Starincludes mostly coverage of Irish issues and sport.

InNorthern Ireland,The Irish Starfeatures a green masthead, in order to distinguish it from the UK version which is also sold there. It also differs from theIrish Daily Starin that it features more news about Northern Ireland.

Circulation[edit]

According to theAudit Bureau of Circulations,Ireland, the average daily circulation of theIrish Daily Star:

Year (period) Average circulation per issue
2003 (January to December)[11]
110,000
2005 (January to June)[12]
108,221
2006 (January to June)[13]
102,884
2007 (January to June)[14]
80,349
2012 (January to June)[15]
75,293
2012 (November)[16]
69,017
2012 (December)[17]
66,941
2013 (April)[18]
60,715
2017 (July)[19]
49,100
2017 (December)[20]
48,686
2018 (July to December)[21]
44,233
2019 (January to June)[22]
41,648
2019 (July to December)[23]
38,341
2020 (January)[24]
35,947
2020 (May)[25]
32,168
2023 (February)[26]
22,490
2023 (May)[27]
21,940
2023 (June)[28]
21,407
2023 (November)[29]
20,492
2023 (December)[30]
20,101

Business[edit]

The 2011 accounts showed thatThe Irish Daily Starmade a profit of €1.44 million for 2011, this was down 63% year-on-year. Revenue was down 20% year-on-year. The company shed 20 staff in 2011, bringing its employment to 118.[31]

Staffing numbers were down to 110 in January 2013, with 80 of those posts full-time and 9 job cuts pending.[32]

Staff numbers reduced to 50 by 31 December 2017.[33]

Kate Middleton photographs and subsequent reorganisation (2012/2013)[edit]

TheIrish Daily Starpublished controversial topless pictures ofKate Middletonon 15 September 2012.St James's Palacesaid there could be "no motivation for this action other than greed".[34]Editor Michael O'Kane defended the publication, saying to the BBC: "I did this as a service to our readers, I'm a little taken aback by the reaction in the UK. It only seems to be an issue in the UK because she is your future queen. But from our point of view in Ireland, Kate Middleton is just another of the fantastic line of celebrities".[35]

In response to the publication of the topless photographs of Kate Middleton, later that dayNorthern & Shell,the co-owner of theIrish Daily Star,announced it was "taking immediate steps to close down the joint venture".[36]

On 17 September 2012, editor Michael O'Kane was suspended pending an investigation into the matter.[37]The following day, it was reported that the "Northern & Shell company was indicating that the company's focus was on exiting the publishing joint venture" rather than closure specifically.[38]It was subsequently reported, that the contract between Northern & Shell and Independent News & Media allows either one of them to give notice of an intention to withdraw and that lawyers from Northern & Shell were trying to extricate Desmond's company from the agreement.[39]

On 24 November 2012, Michael O'Kane resigned as editor of theIrish Daily Star.[40]The same day,The Telegraphreported that IN&M and N&S were working together "to secure the future of the newspaper" and that there was "no change to the status of the 25-year-old joint venture" but that there will be further changes, to be announced in the future, at the paper.[41]The following day,The Sunday Timesreported that the changes will be "rationalisation" in nature and would be announced over the coming weeks.

On 10 January 2013, the reorganisation was announced. IN&M assumed full executive responsibility for theIrish Daily Star.These included pay cuts for all staff, nine staff redundancies and cost cuts of overheads. TheIrish Daily Starwill relocate to Talbot Street in Dublin from its current offices in Dundrum. Gerry Lennon has been appointed managing director of theIrish Daily Starin addition to his existing role of managing director of theSunday World.[42][43][44]

TheIrish Daily Staris also going to start sharing some functions with theSunday World.[32]

Editors[edit]

Contributors[edit]

Authors such as Donn McCleann,[45]Gary O'Brien[46]and Derek Foley[47]feature on the paper's websites.

Notes[edit]

1.^Michael O'Kane suspended as editor on 17 September 2012 following his decision to publish topless photographs ofKate Middleton[48]

References[edit]

  1. ^ab"Neil Leslie appointed editor of Irish Daily Star".The Irish Times.
  2. ^"ABC Irish Newspaper Circulations May 2023".13 June 2023.
  3. ^"ABC Irish Newspaper Circulations February 2023".15 March 2023.
  4. ^"Irish Daily Star Launches Buzz.ie".25 November 2016.
  5. ^abHealy, Alan (20 November 2020)."'Irish Mirror' publisher secures clearance to acquire 'Irish Daily Star' newspaper ".Irish Examiner.Retrieved13 August2021.
  6. ^Fears at Irish Daily Star over Richard Desmond closure threatguardian.co.uk, 16 September 2012
  7. ^Slattery, Laura (12 September 2018)."Competition watchdog clears Reach deal to buy 50% of 'Irish Daily Star'".The Irish Times.
  8. ^abSlattery, Laura (24 April 2020)."Eoin Brannigan appointed new editor-in-chief of Belfast Telegraph".The Irish Times.
  9. ^Mayhew, Freddy (24 April 2020)."Irish Daily Star's Eoin Brannigan named editor-in-chief of Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life".Press Gazette.
  10. ^Taylor, Charlie (23 July 2020)."INM sells its 50% stake in Irish Daily Star to Mirror publisher".The Irish Times.
  11. ^"Vincent Browne, Village, Irish Politics, Current Affairs, Corruption, Magill, Government, Magazine, Investigation, Financial Times FT Magazine, John Lloyd, Investigations: Comment Finfacts Ireland".
  12. ^"Finfacts.ie".Archived fromthe originalon 22 September 2016.
  13. ^"Circulation".
  14. ^McMenamin, Iain; Flynn, Roderick; O'Malley, Eoin; Rafter, Kevin (2012)."Explaining election frames: A content analysis of twelve newspapers in the 2011 Irish general election"(PDF).p. 7.
  15. ^"Irish morning newspaper ABC circulations, Jan-June 2012".ilevel.ie.iLevel. Archived fromthe originalon 22 February 2019.Retrieved15 September2012.
  16. ^"November 2012 ABC Newspaper Circulation Print".
  17. ^"December 2012 ABC Irish Newspaper Circulations Print".
  18. ^"Daily Star Circulation Certificate"(PDF).ABC.April 2013. p. 2.
  19. ^"July 2017 ABC Newspaper Circulation Print".
  20. ^"Irish Newspaper Circulation July-Dec 2017 Island of Ireland Report Print".Archived fromthe originalon 6 November 2018.Retrieved22 February2018.
  21. ^"Irish Newspaper Circulation July-Dec 2018 Island of Ireland Report Print".22 February 2019.
  22. ^"Irish Newspaper Circulation Jan-June 2019 Island of Ireland Report Print".22 August 2019.
  23. ^"Irish Newspaper Circulation July-Dec 2019 Island of Ireland Report".20 February 2020.
  24. ^"Daily Star Certificate"(PDF).ABC.January 2020. p. 3.
  25. ^"ABC Irish Newspaper Circulation May 2020 (Covid19) Cert - update".17 June 2020.
  26. ^"ABC Irish Newspaper Circulation February 2023".15 March 2023.
  27. ^"ABC Irish Newspaper Circulations May 2023".13 June 2023.
  28. ^"Daily Star circulation"(PDF).abc.org.uk.Retrieved12 August2023.
  29. ^https:// abc.org.uk/Certificates/50693847.pdf.{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)
  30. ^https:// abc.org.uk/Certificates/50760282.pdf.{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)
  31. ^Turnover at Independent Star falls 20%Daily Business Post,25 September 2012
  32. ^ab"The Business Post - Independent journalism every day | BusinessPost.ie".
  33. ^"'Irish Daily Star' profits drop as 50% stake is set to change hands ".The Irish Times.
  34. ^"Kate topless photos carried in Irish Daily Star tabloid".BBC News.BBC. 15 September 2012.Retrieved15 September2012.
  35. ^"Irish Daily Star owners 'to close down joint venture' over Middleton pictures".RTÉ News.Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 15 September 2012.Retrieved15 September2012.
  36. ^"Irish Daily Star owner says he will 'close down joint venture'".TheJournal.ie.15 September 2012.Retrieved15 September2012.
  37. ^Irish Daily Stareditor suspended over topless Kate picturesTheJournal.ie, 17 September 2012
  38. ^Irish Daily Star closure threat recedes after publication of topless Kate photosguardian.co.uk, 18 September 2012
  39. ^Desmond will not change his mind about ditching theIrish Daily Starguardian.co.uk, 20 September 2012
  40. ^"Irish Daily Star editor resigns after publishing topless Kate Middleton pictures".24 November 2012.
  41. ^Ensor, Josie (24 November 2012)."Irish Daily Star editor resigns over Kate Middleton topless pictures".The Daily Telegraph.London.
  42. ^"INM assumes full responsibility at Irish Daily Star".Irish Examiner.10 January 2013.
  43. ^"Shareholders agree shake-up of Irish Daily Star".RTÉ News.10 January 2013.Retrieved1 September2021.
  44. ^"INM to take executive control of the Irish Daily Star".Irish Independent.22 January 2013.
  45. ^Donn McCleann - Talking HorsesArchived30 July 2012 at theWayback MachineStarBets.ie
  46. ^Gary O'Brien's View from the TrackArchived28 September 2012 at theWayback MachineStarBets.ie
  47. ^Dere Foley - There's only one "F" in FoleyArchived19 October 2012 at theWayback MachineStarBets.ie
  48. ^"Michael O'Kane suspended over Star photos".RTÉ News.Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 17 September 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 18 September 2012.Retrieved17 September2012.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Irish_Daily_Star&oldid=1197947646"