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. (The 2009 price is one euro). The aim of this strategy was to attract readers away from the
Irish Independent.
Despite initially promising sales, some commentators had claimed that the newspaper's circulation has fallen by 2006, a charge denied by the newspaper's editor-in-chief. In the first half of 2008 weekly sales of 53,000 were claimed, with 131,000 readers. "The Irish Mail on Sunday" claimed average weekend sales in the same period of 123,000. By early 2010 daily sales of the Irish Daily Mail had dropped to about 49,000, in line with an overall drop in sales. On Saturday May 1, 2010, following the death of Gerry Ryan and aided by a promotional CD, the paper sold 75,000 copies - the highest circulation figure since July 2008.
British media analyst Roy Greenslade argued that falling sales are because whereas the British version of the Daily Mail acutely understands its readership, "None of that understanding of the culture, politics and genuine interests of the Irish people is evident in the pages of the Irish Daily Mail". By 2009 this policy had changed as it was offering Irish language wallcharts for schoolchildren, and most of its coverage was about Irish subjects, though it is frequently scathing about politicians.
Irish columnists are contributing to the paper, with Ronan Mullen's column, for example, in the Irish Daily Mail since May 2006. Ronan Mullen was previously a columnist with the Irish Examiner. Mary Ellen Synon, a former Sunday Independent columnist who had controversial views on travellers, asylum seekers and the Paralympics is a regular contributor to the paper.
On 24 September 2006, Ireland on Sunday, which had been purchased by Associated Newspapers in 2001, was rebranded as the Irish Mail on Sunday, replacing the British edition of the Mail on Sunday in the Irish market.
In February 2007 Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny cited the Irish Daily Mail in the Dáil regarding a front page which depicted a CT scanner that lay idle in a laundry room.
Controversies
The paper has faced criticism for attempting to transfer its traditional campaigns on topics such as the EU and immigration and asylum from the British market to Ireland. In Ireland, the EU and immigration were considered building blocks of Ireland's economic boom and as such did not raise the same furious reactions from readers as they do in Britain.
In April 2009, it was pointed out by popular British science blog The Lay Scientist that while the Irish Daily Mail were campaigning for the reintroduction of the HPV vaccine in Ireland, the Daily Mail in London were printing stories attacking the vaccine. The contradiction was condemned by many, including comedy writer Graham Linehan.
References
Category:Newspapers published in Ireland
Category:Publications established in 2006
Category:Daily Mail and General Trust
