Ireland: media concentrated in a few hands

Concentration of media ownership is high in the Republic of Ireland, particularly in the print sector. Almost half of the market for the daily and Sunday newspapers has been in the hands of the Belgian media group Mediahuis since it took over the Independent News and Media Group (INM) in July 2019, including INM’s flagship publication and the country’s most widely read daily newspaper, The Irish Independent.

The country's oldest newspaper (© picture-alliance/dpa)

Mediahuis’s main competitor also controls a substantial share of the print sector: in 2018 Ireland’s oldest daily newspaper, The Irish Times, founded in 1859, took over the country’s fourth-largest daily newspaper, the Irish Examiner.
But despite this concentration, Reporters Without Borders sees a slight positive trend towards more pluralism and competition in the country. For a long time, the INM Group was dominated by businessman Denis O'Brien, who owned almost 30 percent of INM shares, but he sold his stock to Mediahuis in 2019. Then in 2021 he sold the media holding company Communicorp, which owns several radio stations, to the German Bauer Media Group.

Ireland’s print sector is suffering from a decline in readership and advertising revenues. In December 2022, Mediahuis closed its printing plant in Newry, where The Irish Independent, Belfast Telegraph, The Herald and numerous local newspapers were printed. The group said it wanted to focus on its digital services.

The online market, by contrast, is growing, as is people’s willingness to pay for digital subscriptions: 16 percent of the Irish paid for online news in 2022.

The Irish are also avid radio listeners: almost 80 percent of the population listens to one of the English or Gaelic-language radio stations every day.

RTE (Raidió Teilifís Éireann) is Ireland’s semi-state-owned public service broadcaster. It operates various radio and television stations, but also has a strong online presence. RTE programmes are financed by broadcasting licence fees as well as advertising. Like the BBC next door in the UK, RTE is struggling financially.

Gaelic media are the exception and are mostly subsidised by the state to promote the conservation of the Irish language, which only 40 percent of the population still speak. The public television channel TG4 as well as six radio stations broadcast exclusively in Gaelic. However, the last Gaelic-Language daily, Lá Nua, ceased publication in December 2008.

In line with the Anglo-Saxon liberal media model, Ireland’s political parties have little influence on the press. Commercial interests have always taken priority there.

British media have a strong presence in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. They adjust their content only slightly to cater to the Irish public.

The thirty-year conflict in Northern Ireland (“The Troubles”) between unionist Protestants and separatist Catholics sometimes led to restrictions on press freedom which affected the Republic of Ireland in particular. However, since the Good Friday agreement of 1998 brought the Troubles to an end, press freedom has been guaranteed.

World Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders): Rank 2 (2023)

Last updated: April 2023

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Blog David McWilliams (Blog)

The Herald (Daily newspaper)

Irish Examiner (Daily newspaper)

Irish Independent (Daily newspaper)

RTE News (Website)

Business Post (Weekly newspaper)

The Irish Times (Daily newspaper)

thejournal.ie (Website)

The Sunday Times Ireland (Weekly newspaper)

Fora.ie (Website)