History

Foinse was first published in October 1996 as a weekly Saturday newspaper. It was published in Carraroe

Carraroe

An Cheathrú Rua is a village in County Galway, Ireland. The village is within the Irish-speaking region of Connemara, and is famous for its traditional fishing boats known as Galway Hookers. Its population is widely dispersed over Carraroe peninsula between Greatman's Bay and Casla Bay...

, County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

 and printed in Tralee. It was first published in October 1996.

The newspaper closed temporarily in June 2009 when the owner, Pádraig Ó Céidigh, announced that he and Foras na Gaeilge

Foras na Gaeilge

Foras na Gaeilge is the governing body of the Irish language, responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island of Ireland. Its name can be translated into English as "The Irish Language Body", although the body has no official English-language name...

 could not agree on the terms of a new funding contract. Among the terms of the contract was increasing the amount of online material Foinse produced and publishing the paper in pdf form online free of charge two days after publication. Foras na Gaeilge also wanted the paper to keep its current form. These terms were unacceptable to Pádraig Ó Céidigh as the paper was losing money due to the decrease in advertising revenue over the previous year. Ó Céidigh wanted to make the paper a free supplement to the Irish Independent

Irish Independent

The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...

 at the weekend thereby increasing the circulation of the newspaper from 5,500 to 150,000. This business plan was unacceptable to Foras na Gaeilge.

The paper's return, independent of Foras na Gaeilge, was announced later in 2009. It is included with the Irish Independent every Wednesday. In February 2011, the paper had a reported readership of 195,000 in the Republic of Ireland.

Content

Its stories cover the Gaeltacht

Gaeltacht

is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region. In Ireland, the Gaeltacht, or an Ghaeltacht, refers individually to any, or collectively to all, of the districts where the government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant language, that is, the vernacular spoken at home...

 and Irish language topics in addition to articles on current affairs, sport, travel, business and education, as well as reviews. Editorial pieces and sections for Leaving Certificate

Leaving Certificate

The Leaving Certificate Examinations , commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert is the final examination in the Irish secondary school system. It takes a minimum of two years preparation, but an optional Transition Year means that for those students it takes place three years after the Junior...

students (Foinse sa Rang) and children (Foinse Óg) also feature.