A new mid-market newspaper aimed at young Dublin readers hits the streets this morning as competition in the newspaper industry intensifies.
Journalists at the Dublin Daily were last night putting the finishing touches to the paper, which will be available in 1,500 newsagents for a special introductory price of € 1 (the price will rise subsequently to €1.20)
The paper will enter a highly competitive newspaper market, with several titles struggling to maintain their position.
While the newspaper market worldwide remains moribund, the shareholders behind the paper - among them the English newspaper group Archant - believe there is a gap in the Dublin market.
The tabloid paper will compete against titles owned or partly owned by Independent News and Media, including the Star and the Evening Herald. The paper, edited by the former Meath footballer, Mr Liam Hayes, is targeting readers in the 18-to-35-year age group, particularly commuters and office workers. The company behind the title, Dublin Daily News Ltd, believes young readers, particularly females, are badly served by existing titles and Dublin is one of the few cities in Europe or the US without its own newspaper. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, will be presented with one of the first copies this morning at government buildings.
Mr Colm Grealy, managing director of Dublin Daily News Ltd, said 70,000 copies of the paper were being printed for the first day, but its target circulation in the first year was 25,000.
He said the company was delighted with the response from advertisers and the first two to three days of advertising space were sold out. "We have 13 pages of classifieds in the first edition, so we are very satisfied," he said.
The paper has managed to raise its profile by signing a deal with the Dublin GAA team, believed to be worth € 100,000. Under the deal a group of players have agreed to promote and write columns exclusively for the paper.
Mr Grealy said the paper did not necessarily see the Evening Herald as its main competitior. "We hope to take readers off everyone to be honest," he said.
However the paper's marketing campaign points out that its property and used car classifieds will be available earlier in the day than the Evening Herald.