Staff at the Sunday Tribune will be told this morning who the next editor of the paper will be. It is believed the current deputy editor, Mr Paddy Murray, will be appointed to the position.
The board of Tribune Newspapers has been meeting over the past two days to decide on the most suitable candidate among a shortlist of four.
At least one external candidate is understood to have made the shortlist, but the board appears to have come down in favour of Mr Murray.
The next editor will succeed Mr Matt Cooper, who has gone on to present Today FM's The Last Word. It was Mr Cooper who recruited Mr Murray from the Star newspaper.
For the past few years Mr Murray has acted as deputy editor, while also writing a column on the opinion page. He has also retained a column during that time with the Sunday World.
He is a popular figure in the newspaper and staff last night generally welcomed the news. However some believed it might have been preferable to appoint an outside candidate who would introduce radical change to the title, which is under severe pressure in the highly competitive Sunday market.
In recent years the growth of the Sunday Times (owned by News Corporation) and Ireland on Sunday (owned by Associated Newspapers) has increased the level of competition.
Independent Newspapers has considerable influence over the paper's direction through a substantial shareholding and the managing director of the paper, Mr Jim Farrelly, is a senior executive from the Independent stable. Mr Farrelly and two recruitment consultants made up the interview panel for the post.
While the paper was selling more than 100,000 copies in the early 1990s, its circulation is now down to about 85,000. Mr Murray is not expected to make any dramatic changes. He has been editing the paper since the departure of Mr Cooper.
It is understood several of the applicants for the post suggested the paper needed to mark out new ground in the Sunday market. Several suggested that the paper become more like the British Observer.