Irish Independent
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
| Format | broadsheet & tabloid |
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| Owner(s) | Independent News and Media |
| Founded | 1905, replaced Daily Irish Independent. |
| Political position | originally Catholic Nationalist, pro-Irish Parliamentary Party, then Fine Gael, now centre right and pro-Fianna Fail, populist on social issues |
| Headquarters | Talbot Street, Dublin |
| Editor | Gerald O'Regan |
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| Website | www.independent.ie |
The Irish Independent is Ireland's best-selling daily newspaper. Unusually, it is published in both tabloid and broadsheet formats. It was formed in 1905 as the direct successor of the Daily Irish Independent, an 1890s pro-parnellite newspaper. The Irish Independent was launched by William Martin Murphy, a controversial Irish businessman, staunch anti-parnellite and fellow townsman of Parnell's most venomous opponent, Bantry's Timothy Michael Healy.<ref> Andy Bielenberg, Entrepreneurship, Power, and Public Opinion in Ireland; The career of William Martin Murphy</ref>
The Irish Independent described the 1916 Easter Rising as "insane and criminal" and famously called for the execution of its leaders.<ref name=easter_rising>Easter Rising newspaper archive — from the BBC History website</ref> In December 1919, during the Irish War of Independence, a group of twenty IRA men destroyed the printing works of the paper, angered at its coverage of a recent ambush on the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and its criticism of the Irish Republican Army. In 1924, the traditional nationalist newspaper, the Freeman's Journal, merged with the Irish Independent.
For most of its history, the Irish Independent (also called simply the Independent or, more colloquially, the Indo) was seen as a right-wing, nationalist, Catholic newspaper, which gave its political allegiance to Cumann na nGaedhael and later its successor party, Fine Gael. It urged Irish support, along with the Irish Christian Front, for General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War.
In the 1970s, it was taken over by former Heinz chairman, Tony O'Reilly. Under his leadership, it became a more populist, libertarian newspaper - populist on social issues, but economically conservative. By the mid-nineties its allegiance to Fine Gael had ended. In the 1997 general election, it endorsed Fianna Fáil under 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 'payback' politicians for their failings, its opponents suggested that the 'payback' actually referred to its chance to get revenge for the refusal of the Rainbow Coalition to award the company a mobile phone licence.<ref name=partiality_claim>Irish Examiner archives — O’Reilly ‘took revenge in editorial’</ref> Tony O'Reilly disputes this claim.
Its main columnists include: Kevin Myers, David McWilliams, David Quinn, Mary Kenny,and Ian O'Doherty. Another well-known journalist who writes for the paper is investigative reporter Sam Smyth. Justine McCarthy is a well-known features writer who was with the paper full-time, but departed in summer 2006 for Vincent Browne's Village magazine and is now a regular contributor to the Indo.
Its sister paper is the Sunday Independent. Other newspapers in the Independent News & Media group include the Evening Herald, the Daily Star (Irish edition), the Sunday World (all tabloids), many local Irish newspapers and The Independent, a London-based newspaper, as well as newspapers in Australia and South Africa. It has a major share in the Sunday Tribune, an up-market Sunday broadsheet. The Independent Group has been accused of holding an 'unhealthy dominance' of the Irish newspaper market<ref name=unhealthy_dominance>Oireachtas Debate </ref>, all the more so since the demise of the Irish Press, Evening Press and Sunday Press newspapers published by the Irish Press Group in 1995. With the closure of the Evening Press, the Independent's Evening Herald is now the only Irish national evening newspaper. Excluding the Sun and the Mirror, most of the content of which are produced in England, the Independent group owns just over 67% of Irish daily newspapers. Excluding the Sunday Times, it controls almost 87% of Irish newspapers sold on Sunday.<ref name=independent_dominance>Sunday Business Post archives — O'Reilly's global empire is still built on print</ref>
| Circulation & Readership of | |
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| Circulation | 82,771 (b); 81,431 (t) |
| Readership | 580,000 (17.8% of market) |
| Dates | Jan—June 2005 |
| Source | National Newspapers of Ireland |
According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the Independent had a total daily circulation of 164,302 during the first six months of 2005. This circulation was split evenly between the broadsheet edition (82,771) and the tabloid edition (81,431). The paper launched the tabloid version in 2004 (although stapled together, unlike a typical tabloid newspaper) - aiming to capture the Dublin commuter market with a more compact size. The launch was a success, with some media analysts questioning whether the paper might not abandon the broadsheet layout altogether and simply produce a tabloid version. However no such a decision to date has been made, and that last Irish broadsheet to go entirely tabloid, the Irish Press, lost much of its readership, as did the Evening Herald when it changed from broadsheet to tabloid.
Its main national broadsheet rival is The Irish Times.
The paper publishes two daily cartoons from its archives - Count Curly Wee cartoons from the Liverpool Echo of the 1950s, and later James Bond comic strips. When coupled with a recent Dilbert cartoon and a set of Sudoku puzzles, these elderly comics look rather out of place to some readers. No other newspapers appear to be syndicating the Count Curly Wee comics as of 2006.
In late 2004, Independent Newspapers moved from their traditional home in Middle Abbey Street to a new office, "Independent House" in Talbot Street.
On September 27 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 the Irish Independent's sister paper, the Evening Herald.
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| National & regional newspapers in Ireland | 
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Defunct | |
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See also: List of newspapers in Ireland |
