Sunday Tribune
Encyclopedia
The Sunday Tribune was an Irish
Sunday broadsheet
newspaper
published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to tabloid. Former editors include Conor Brady
, Vincent Browne
, Matt Cooper
and Paddy Murray
. The Sunday Tribune was founded in 1980, closed in 1982, relaunched in 1983 and entered receivership in January 2011 after which it ceased to trade.
(later editor of The Irish Times
) as its first editor. Format changed to broadsheet with addition of colour supplement magazine after first year. It was moderately successful but its growing financial stability (it had not yet made a profit but was moving in that direction) was undermined when its then owner, Hugh McLaughlin
, launched the financially misjudged downmarket tabloid Daily News
in 1982. The News proved to be a publishing disaster, with poor quality printing, bad distribution, and misjudged content, and pulled its sister paper, the Tribune, down with it within weeks. The Tribune went into receivership
. The title was bought by Vincent Browne
, who relaunched it in 1983 and became its editor.
, which like other Press titles was hæmorrhaging readers through underfunding, an aging market and poor management decisions. Replicating McLoughlin's mistake of a decade earlier, against advice Browne launched a new sister paper, the Dublin Tribune, which collapsed pulling the Sunday Tribune down with it.
The Dublin Tribune, though a commercial failure, was a breeding ground for a number of talented young journalists under the direction of editors Michael Hand and Rory Godson, and news editor Colin Kerr. These included Patricia Deevy, Diarmuid Doyle, Ursula Halligan
, Nicola Byrne, Ronan Price, Richard Balls, Paul Howard, Colm Murphy, Brendan Fanning, Conn O Midheach and Ed O'Loughlin who is on the shortlist for the Booker Prize for his novel Not Untrue And Not Unkind.
The Sunday Tribune was saved from bankruptcy by Tony O'Reilly
's Independent News and Media (then called Independent Newspapers plc), which acquired a 29.9 per cent stake in the company. Even before the investment the relationship between Browne and the board of the company had been contentious. In the aftermath of the Dublin Tribune debacle Browne was sacked as editor.
Browne was succeeded as editor by Peter Murtagh, a Dublin-born journalist formerly with The Irish Times who moved to London in 1985 and was news editor at The Guardian
. Appointed Sunday Tribune editor in 1994, Murtagh had limited success, seeing early circulation growth dissipate and the paper starved of resources. He resigned after just over two years, telling journalists he could not secure sufficient investment from the Board. Later, he rejoined The Irish Times where is now a managing editor.
After taking its 29.9 per cent stake, Independent Newspapers made an offer to increase its share to a majority level, however the Minister for Industry and Commerce
, Desmond O'Malley
, blocked the takeover attempt in 1992. Despite this, it is believed by many Irish business journalists that Independent Newspapers effectively control the Sunday Tribune via a series of loans.
Matt Cooper
, a business journalist with O'Reilly's Irish Independent
newspaper, succeeded Murtagh as editor from 1996 to 2003. When Cooper departed the Sunday Tribune in early 2003 and moved into broadcast journalism with Today FM
radio station, he was succeeded by Paddy Murray
, who was before and is now again a columnist with the Sunday World
newspaper.
Murray's tenure was marked by a rise in circulation to well above 80,000, aided four or five times a year by classical music CD promotions. Readership under Murray reached 281,000 - its highest to date - according to the Joint National Readership Survey of
2005. That represented an 8.4 per cent share. During his time as editor, Murray launched a campaign in the paper to save the Gabhra Valley from destruction by the M3 motorway. The campaign was later dropped by the Sunday Tribune, but Murray has kept it up in the Sunday World.
The paper was alone among Irish newspapers at the time, to come out strongly against the invasion of Iraq, Murray's editorial predicting, accurately, that the invasion was akin to opening Pandora's Box. Though the future of the newspaper has long thought to be uncertain it has continued to survive in the increasingly competitive Irish newspaper market. Its survival was helped by the collapse of the Irish Press group, which removed its highly popular Sunday Press from the market. Though many of its readers would not necessarily have been politically close to the Sunday Tribune, they were closer to it than the main alternative, the Sunday Independent.
. Many journalists believe that in the following years, the Sunday Tribune moved closer to tabloid-style content in a bid to combat INM's rival, Associated Newspapers's tabloid Irish Mail On Sunday
newspaper, which launched in 2006.
Over time, circulation and readership of the newspaper declined.
On 1 February 2011 it was announced that the Sunday Tribune had gone into receivership, with fresh investment being sought by McStay Luby. The following day it was announced that there would be no further edition of the newspaper for four weeks. The last issue appeared on 30 January 2011. On 6 February 2011, the Irish Mail on Sunday committed a "shameless" crime when it allowed copies of its newspaper go on sale with an imitation Sunday Tribune cover. This plagiarism was "denounced" when it became public. The Irish Mail on Sunday was subsequently sued.
The paper was often humorously referred to as "The Turbine", especially in the satirical magazine The Phoenix
.
On 22 February 2011, following a review by the Receiver, in consultation with the management of the company, of the financial and risk areas of the Sunday Tribune it was decided that publication of the newspaper together with its online edition would be deferred during the sale process.
and The Sunday Business Post
, as well as the Irish edition of UK newspaper The Sunday Times
.
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
Sunday broadsheet
Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to tabloid. Former editors include Conor Brady
Conor Brady
Conor Brady was the editor of The Irish Times for 16 years, between 1986 and 2002, having previously edited the Sunday Tribune.-Life:Brady was educated at Cistercian College, Roscrea, Co...
, Vincent Browne
Vincent Browne
Vincent Browne is an Irish print and broadcast journalist. He is a columnist with The Irish Times and The Sunday Business Post and a part time barrister....
, Matt Cooper
Matt Cooper (Irish journalist)
Matt Cooper is an Irish journalist and presenter of The Last Word on Today FM.Cooper was educated at the North Monastery school and University College Cork. He is a former editor of the Sunday Tribune, appointed in September 1996, as well as a former business editor of the Irish Independent...
and Paddy Murray
Paddy Murray
Patrick Thomas Murray in Dublin, Ireland, is a journalist and writer. He has written for the Evening Herald, Sunday World, and spent time as editor of the Sunday Tribune....
. The Sunday Tribune was founded in 1980, closed in 1982, relaunched in 1983 and entered receivership in January 2011 after which it ceased to trade.
Foundation, collapse and first relaunch
The newspaper was founded in 1980 by John Mulcahy as a tabloid with Conor BradyConor Brady
Conor Brady was the editor of The Irish Times for 16 years, between 1986 and 2002, having previously edited the Sunday Tribune.-Life:Brady was educated at Cistercian College, Roscrea, Co...
(later editor of The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
) as its first editor. Format changed to broadsheet with addition of colour supplement magazine after first year. It was moderately successful but its growing financial stability (it had not yet made a profit but was moving in that direction) was undermined when its then owner, Hugh McLaughlin
Hugh McLaughlin
This article is about the Irish publisher Hugh McLaughlin. For the 19th century US politician see Hugh McLaughlin .Hugh McLaughlin was an Irish publisher and inventor. He was married to Nuala Ryan....
, launched the financially misjudged downmarket tabloid Daily News
Daily News (Ireland)
The Daily News was a short-lived Irish tabloid newspaper launched in 1982 by Dublin businessman Hugh McLaughlin, the owner of the Sunday Tribune...
in 1982. The News proved to be a publishing disaster, with poor quality printing, bad distribution, and misjudged content, and pulled its sister paper, the Tribune, down with it within weeks. The Tribune went into receivership
Receivership
In law, receivership is the situation in which an institution or enterprise is being held by a receiver, a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights." The receivership remedy is an equitable remedy that emerged in...
. The title was bought by Vincent Browne
Vincent Browne
Vincent Browne is an Irish print and broadcast journalist. He is a columnist with The Irish Times and The Sunday Business Post and a part time barrister....
, who relaunched it in 1983 and became its editor.
Second near collapse
The paper became one of Ireland's most successful newspapers in the 1980s, eating into the market of The Sunday PressThe Sunday Press
The Sunday Press was a weekly newspaper published in Ireland from 1949 until 1995. It was launched by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group following the defeat of his Fianna Fáil party in the Irish general election, 1948...
, which like other Press titles was hæmorrhaging readers through underfunding, an aging market and poor management decisions. Replicating McLoughlin's mistake of a decade earlier, against advice Browne launched a new sister paper, the Dublin Tribune, which collapsed pulling the Sunday Tribune down with it.
The Dublin Tribune, though a commercial failure, was a breeding ground for a number of talented young journalists under the direction of editors Michael Hand and Rory Godson, and news editor Colin Kerr. These included Patricia Deevy, Diarmuid Doyle, Ursula Halligan
Ursula Halligan
Ursula Halligan is the political editor of Ireland's main independent television station, TV3.A former journalist with RTÉ News and Current Affairs, she joined TV3 at its inception. She previously worked at the Sunday Tribune and Vincent Browne's Magill magazine...
, Nicola Byrne, Ronan Price, Richard Balls, Paul Howard, Colm Murphy, Brendan Fanning, Conn O Midheach and Ed O'Loughlin who is on the shortlist for the Booker Prize for his novel Not Untrue And Not Unkind.
The Sunday Tribune was saved from bankruptcy by Tony O'Reilly
Tony O'Reilly
Sir Anthony Joseph Francis O'Reilly is an Irish businessman and former international rugby union player. He is known for his involvement the Independent News & Media Group, which he led from 1973 to 2009, and as former CEO and Chairman of the H.J. Heinz Company. He was the leading shareholder of...
's Independent News and Media (then called Independent Newspapers plc), which acquired a 29.9 per cent stake in the company. Even before the investment the relationship between Browne and the board of the company had been contentious. In the aftermath of the Dublin Tribune debacle Browne was sacked as editor.
Browne was succeeded as editor by Peter Murtagh, a Dublin-born journalist formerly with The Irish Times who moved to London in 1985 and was news editor at The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. Appointed Sunday Tribune editor in 1994, Murtagh had limited success, seeing early circulation growth dissipate and the paper starved of resources. He resigned after just over two years, telling journalists he could not secure sufficient investment from the Board. Later, he rejoined The Irish Times where is now a managing editor.
After taking its 29.9 per cent stake, Independent Newspapers made an offer to increase its share to a majority level, however the Minister for Industry and Commerce
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ireland)
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is the senior minister at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is Richard Bruton, TD...
, Desmond O'Malley
Desmond O'Malley
Desmond Joseph "Des" O'Malley is a former Irish politician.Born in Limerick, O'Malley was raised in a local political dynasty that had a strong association with Fianna Fáil. Elected to Dáil Éireann in 1968, he quickly became a trusted confidante of Taoiseach Jack Lynch...
, blocked the takeover attempt in 1992. Despite this, it is believed by many Irish business journalists that Independent Newspapers effectively control the Sunday Tribune via a series of loans.
Matt Cooper
Matt Cooper (Irish journalist)
Matt Cooper is an Irish journalist and presenter of The Last Word on Today FM.Cooper was educated at the North Monastery school and University College Cork. He is a former editor of the Sunday Tribune, appointed in September 1996, as well as a former business editor of the Irish Independent...
, a business journalist with O'Reilly's 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:...
newspaper, succeeded Murtagh as editor from 1996 to 2003. When Cooper departed the Sunday Tribune in early 2003 and moved into broadcast journalism with Today FM
Today FM
Radio Ireland Ltd, trading as 100-102 Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station which is available nationally. The station, which commenced broadcasting on Saint Patrick's Day in 1997, can be received nationally and carries a mix of music and talk...
radio station, he was succeeded by Paddy Murray
Paddy Murray
Patrick Thomas Murray in Dublin, Ireland, is a journalist and writer. He has written for the Evening Herald, Sunday World, and spent time as editor of the Sunday Tribune....
, who was before and is now again a columnist with the Sunday World
Sunday World
The Sunday World is an Irish newspaper published by Sunday Newspapers Limited, a division of Independent News and Media. It is the largest selling "popular" newspaper in the Republic of Ireland and is also sold in Northern Ireland .-Origins:The Sunday World was Ireland's first tabloid newspaper...
newspaper.
Murray's tenure was marked by a rise in circulation to well above 80,000, aided four or five times a year by classical music CD promotions. Readership under Murray reached 281,000 - its highest to date - according to the Joint National Readership Survey of
2005. That represented an 8.4 per cent share. During his time as editor, Murray launched a campaign in the paper to save the Gabhra Valley from destruction by the M3 motorway. The campaign was later dropped by the Sunday Tribune, but Murray has kept it up in the Sunday World.
The paper was alone among Irish newspapers at the time, to come out strongly against the invasion of Iraq, Murray's editorial predicting, accurately, that the invasion was akin to opening Pandora's Box. Though the future of the newspaper has long thought to be uncertain it has continued to survive in the increasingly competitive Irish newspaper market. Its survival was helped by the collapse of the Irish Press group, which removed its highly popular Sunday Press from the market. Though many of its readers would not necessarily have been politically close to the Sunday Tribune, they were closer to it than the main alternative, the Sunday Independent.
The Tribune's closure
After Murray's tenure as editor ended in January 2005 he was succeeded as Sunday Tribune editor by Noirin Hegarty, a former deputy editor at the INM-owned Dublin morning tabloid Evening HeraldEvening Herald
The Evening Herald is a mid-market tabloid evening newspaper published in Dublin, Ireland by Independent News & Media. It is published Monday-Saturday, and has three editions — City Edition, City Final Edition and National Edition...
. Many journalists believe that in the following years, the Sunday Tribune moved closer to tabloid-style content in a bid to combat INM's rival, Associated Newspapers's tabloid Irish Mail On Sunday
Irish Daily Mail
The Irish Daily Mail is a newspaper published in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland by Associated Newspapers. The paper was launched in February 2006 with a launch strategy that included giving away free copies on the first day of circulation and low pricing subsequently....
newspaper, which launched in 2006.
Over time, circulation and readership of the newspaper declined.
On 1 February 2011 it was announced that the Sunday Tribune had gone into receivership, with fresh investment being sought by McStay Luby. The following day it was announced that there would be no further edition of the newspaper for four weeks. The last issue appeared on 30 January 2011. On 6 February 2011, the Irish Mail on Sunday committed a "shameless" crime when it allowed copies of its newspaper go on sale with an imitation Sunday Tribune cover. This plagiarism was "denounced" when it became public. The Irish Mail on Sunday was subsequently sued.
The paper was often humorously referred to as "The Turbine", especially in the satirical magazine The Phoenix
The Phoenix (magazine)
The Phoenix is Ireland's best selling political and current affairs magazine. Inspired by the British magazine Private Eye, and a source of investigative journalism in Ireland...
.
On 22 February 2011, following a review by the Receiver, in consultation with the management of the company, of the financial and risk areas of the Sunday Tribune it was decided that publication of the newspaper together with its online edition would be deferred during the sale process.
Competitors
The newspaper's main Irish broadsheet Sunday competitors were the Sunday IndependentSunday Independent
The Sunday Independent is a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published in Ireland by Independent News and Media plc. The newspaper is edited by Aengus Fanning, and is the biggest selling Irish Sunday newspaper by a large margin ; average circulation of 291,323 between June 2004 and January 2005,...
and The Sunday Business Post
The Sunday Business Post
The Sunday Business Post is an Irish national Sunday newspaper published by Post Publications Limited. Post Publications is owned by Thomas Crosbie Holdings. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, Ireland, the average weekly circulation was 57,783 for the period January to June 2009. The...
, as well as the Irish edition of UK newspaper The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
.