The British media company, Mirror Group Plc, has bought the Derry Journal and its sister publications, the Donegal Democrat, the Donegal People's Press and the Journal Extra. This is the first time that a foreign company has bought into the Republic's regional press.
Mirror Group, publishers of the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror, The People, the Scottish Daily Record, and the News Letter in Belfast, bought the Derry Journal Ltd for £18.25 million.
There has been speculation for some weeks now about the future of the Derry Journal since it was known that the McCarroll family, who have owned the newspaper since the 1920s, were interested in selling.
A confidential letter to staff said the Mirror Group was not the highest bidder but had been chosen because it agreed to maintain editorial, advertising, accounts, credit control and printing operation in respect of the Derry Journal Group in Derry and to maintain local administration.
A statement from Mirror Group Plc said the acquisition was subject to regulatory approval in both Britain and Ireland The Derry Journal group is Mirror Group's second acquisition in Ireland. In 1996 it bought Century Newspapers, which publishes the News Letter, one of Northern Ireland's three daily newspapers.
The News Letter is traditionally a unionist paper, while the Derry Journal is one of the most influential nationalist newspapers after the Irish News. Mirror Group's chief executive is Mr David Montgomery, who is from Northern Ireland and is close to Mr David Trimble.
The National Union of Journalists is not pleased at the acquisition, according to sources. It will be discussing it today at a meeting of the union's finance committee. Its relationship with the Mirror Group is probably as bad as with any major employer in the UK and the union is not recognised by Mirror Group
The editor of the Derry Journal, Mr Pat McArt, said the Journal had always been a family owned, independent, local newspaper since it was founded in 1772. It was now owned by a multi national. That alone gave reason for concern, he said.
The Derry Journal comes out on Tuesday and Friday, with sales of 26,000 and 27,000 respectively. It also has a free newspaper, the Journal Extra. The Democrat has weekly sales of 19,000.
It is believed that the Mirror's interest was due, at least partly, to the Journal' printing facility, though Mr Montgomery said yesterday that the acquisition fitted in with Mirror Group's strategy of buying strong regional newspaper titles.
At the same time the News Letter's plant in Belfast is running at capacity, printing both the News Letter and the Irish edition of the Daily Mirror. The Journal's plant would give the Mirror that extra capacity.
It is understood that Trinity Holdings was also interested in acquiring the Derry Journal. It owns the Sunday Business Post and the Belfast Telegraph. It is believed it also has a print capacity problem in Belfast. It is printing the Irish edition of the Sun, the News of the World and the Sunday Life, along with the Sunday Business Post and the Belfast Telegraph.
