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''The Irish Press'' ( Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily
newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...
published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995.


Foundation

The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the
1931 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final The first 1931 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final took place on 6 September 1931 at Croke Park, Dublin. It was the 44th All-Ireland final and was contested by Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermea ...
between Kilkenny and Cork; other newspapers did not cover
Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling ...
in any detail at the time.
Margaret Pearse Margaret Pearse (; 12 February 1857 – 22 April 1932) was an Irish politician. She was the mother of Patrick Pearse and Willie Pearse, who were both executed after the 1916 Easter Rising. She was later elected to Dáil Éireann. Early life ...
, the mother of Padraig and
Willie Pearse William James Pearse ( ga, Uilliam Seamus Mac Piarais; 15 November 1881 – 4 May 1916) was an Irish republican executed for his part in the Easter Rising. He was a younger brother of Patrick Pearse, a leader of the rising. Background Willie P ...
, pressed the button to start the printing presses."Still mourning for the Press", ''The Kingdom'', 13 June 2002. The initial aim of its publisher was to achieve a circulation of 100,000 which it quickly accomplished. It went on to list a subscribership of 200,000 at its peak. Irish Press Ltd. was officially registered on 4 September 1928, three years before the paper was first published, to create a newspaper independent of the existing media where the Independent Newspapers group was seen as supporting
Cumann na nGaedheal Cumann na nGaedheal (; "Society of the Gaels") was a political party in the Irish Free State, which formed the government from 1923 to 1932. In 1933 it merged with smaller groups to form the Fine Gael party. Origins In 1922 the pro-Treat ...
/
Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil É ...
, and ''
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' being pro-union, and with a mainly middle-class or Protestant readership. The ''Irish Press'' founder
Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...
said the paper's objective was: "To give the truth in the news, that will be the chief aim of ''The Irish Press''. ''The Irish Press'' will be a truthful journal and a good newspaper". The founders planned to produce an evening and Sunday edition of the paper if the daily was successful, and they did.


Initial financing

The money to launch ''The Irish Press'' was raised in the United States during the
Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...
by a bond drive to finance the
First Dail First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
. The amount raised was $5 million ($55 million adjusted for inflation as of 2011). However, 60 percent of this money was left in various banks in New York. Nobody has been able to explain why Éamon de Valera ordered the bulk of the money to be left in New York when he returned to Ireland in late 1920.''Tim Pat Coogan: A Memoir'' p. 252 In 1927, as a result of legal action between the
Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
government and de Valera, a court in New York ordered that the bond holders be paid back outstanding money due to them. However de Valera's legal team had anticipated the ruling and had prepared for the outcome. A number of circulars were sent to the bond holders asking them to sign over their holdings to de Valera. The bond holders were paid 58 cents to the dollar. This money was then used as start up capital to launch ''The Irish Press''. Following the
1933 Irish General Election The 1933 Irish general election was held on Tuesday, 24 January. The newly elected members of the 8th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 8 February and President of the Executive Council and the 7th Executive Council of the Irish Free State ...
de Valera used his Dáil majority to pass a measure allowing the bond holders to be paid the remaining 42 percent of the money still owed.


Censorship by Free State Government

In December 1931, the editor Frank Gallagher was prosecuted by an Irish Free State military tribunal for publishing articles alleging that Gardaí had mistreated the opponents (Anti-Treaty republicans) of the Irish Free State government. This was facilitated by ''Amendment No. 17 of Constitution of the Irish Free State'' and Gallagher was convicted and fined £50. An example of animosity from those who supported Independent Newspapers and the Free State government was that ''The Irish Press'' was excluded from the special train which delivered newspapers from Dublin to the countryside.


Prominent personalities

The newspaper was controlled by Éamon de Valera and his family, and as a consequence, it supported
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...
consistently throughout its life, expressing the "national outlook" in keeping with the thoughts and sentiments of his party supporters. The paper was aimed particularly at teachers and schools, with strong coverage of GAA games and the
Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
.
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (; 12 February 1911 – 21 March 1978) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, judge and barrister who served as the fifth president of Ireland from December 1974 to October 1976. His birth name was registered in English ...
was the first Irish language editor. The first editor was Frank Gallagher, who fought alongside Éamon de Valera during the
Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...
. Its directors included
Robert Barton Robert Childers Barton (14 March 1881 – 10 August 1975) was an Anglo-Irish politician, Irish nationalist and farmer who participated in the negotiations leading up to the signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. His father was Charles William Bar ...
. Seán Lemass was an early managing director. Major Vivion de Valera, son of the founder, subsequently became managing director. De Valera was noted for courtesy amongst those running the business, which was considered well run. Shareholders came from both Ireland and the United States. It was many years before a dividend was paid.
Douglas Gageby (Robert John) Douglas Gageby (29 September 1918 – 24 June 2004) was one of the pre-eminent Irish newspaper editors of his generation. His life is well documented and a book of essays about him, written by many of his colleagues, some of whom had ...
worked on each of the press titles, ''The Irish Press'', '' Evening Press'' (as first editor) and '' The Sunday Press'', and subsequently was editor of ''The Irish Times''. Tim Pat Coogan, who started working for the ''Evening Press'', became editor of ''The Irish Press'' from 1968 until 1987.
Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...
-born James Patrick (Jim) McGuinness, who was editor from 1953 until 1957, brought in journalists such as Benedict Kiely, Seán J. White, and also
Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English and ...
as a columnist. Others who have written for ''The Irish Press'' include the poet Patrick Kavanagh; the broadcaster and journalist
Vincent Browne Vincent Browne (born 17 July 1944) is an Irish print and broadcast journalist. He is a columnist with ''The Irish Times'' and ''The Sunday Business Post'' and a non-practising barrister. From 1996 until 2007, he presented a nightly talk-show ...
, who was Northern Editor from 1970 to 1972; Damien Kiberd who was business editor; his brother, Professor
Declan Kiberd Declan Kiberd (born 24 May 1951) is an Irish writer and scholar with an interest in modern Irish literature, both in the English and Irish languages, which he often approaches through the lens of postcolonial theory. He is also interested in th ...
, was a columnist with ''The Irish Press'' from 1987 to 1993; the Catholic and feminist campaigner and journalist Mary Kenny; sports writer and founder of GOAL John O'Shea; the novelist
John Banville William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Proust, via Nabokov", Banville himself maintains that W. B. Yeats and Henry J ...
was Chief Sub-editor of the Irish Press - other sub-editors included the poet Hugh McFadden; the historian
Dermot Keogh Dermot Keogh (born 12 May 1945) is Professor of History and Emeritus Jean Monnet Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet (; 9 November 1888 – 16 March 1979) was a French civil servant, entrepreneur, diplomat, financier, administrator, and political ...
, and the Joycean critic Terence Killeen; T. P. O'Mahony (Religious Affairs Correspondent 1967–89);
Maire Comerford Máire Aoife Comerford (2 June 1893 - 15 December 1982) was an Irish republican from County Wexford who witnessed central events in 1916-23 and remained a committed supporter of Cumann na mBan until her death. Early career to 1916 Comerford ...
; sports writer Michael Carwood;
Breandán Ó hEithir Breandán Ó hEithir (18 January 1930 – 26 October 1990) was an Irish writer and broadcaster.Con Houlihan Con Houlihan (6 December 1925 – 4 August 2012) was an Irish sportswriter. Despite only progressing to national journalism at the age of 46, he became "the greatest and the best-loved Irish sports journalist of all". Journalism career Over a le ...
. In its early days, it was circulated throughout Ireland by a specially rented train because the rival Independent Newspapers would not rent space on its train to ''The Irish Press''. It sustained itself with its own resources until the ''Sunday Press'' was founded in the 1940s. In its heyday, ''The Irish Press'' had a number of first-rate reporters and columnists. One notable section, ''New Irish Writing'' was edited by David Marcus.


Section 31 and the Troubles

In the 1970s, the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs,
Conor Cruise O'Brien Donal Conor David Dermot Donat Cruise O'Brien (3 November 1917 – 18 December 2008), often nicknamed "The Cruiser", was an Irish diplomat, politician, writer, historian and academic, who served as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs from 1973 ...
, tried to use and amend The Emergency Powers Act and Section 31 of the Broadcasting Authority Act, to censor coverage of the
Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...
in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
. The ''Press'' editor, Tim Pat Coogan, published editorials attacking the Bill. The Fine Gael/Labour Coalition Government tried to prosecute ''The Irish Press'' for its coverage of the maltreatment of republican prisoners by the Garda "Heavy Gang", with the paper winning the case.


Additional titles

Later, the ''Irish Press'' started two further newspapers, the ''Evening Press'' (1954), and the ''Sunday Press''. The ''Evening Press'' was aimed at an urban readership and achieved a daily circulation of 100,000. Terry O'Sullivan, the pen name of Tomas O'Faolain, father of writer and journalist
Nuala O'Faolain Nuala O'Faolain (; 1 March 19409 May 2008) was an Irish journalist, TV producer, book reviewer, teacher and writer. She became well known after the publication of her memoirs ''Are You Somebody?'' and ''Almost There''. She wrote a biography of I ...
, was provided with a car and driver and wrote a social column. The new newspapers subsidised ''The Irish Press'' when its circulation sagged. Its adoption of a tabloid format did not rescue its declining circulation. Formerly one of the main daily newspapers in
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
, its business failure left the ground clear for its old rivals, ''
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' and the ''
Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...
'', to dominate the daily market for some years until other competitors were introduced.


Digital archive

The newspaper is available online on Irish Newspaper Archives.


Final days

The final issue of the ''Irish Press'' and ''Evening Press'' was on Thursday, 25 May 1995. The newspapers closed ostensibly because of a bizarre industrial dispute over the sacking of the group business editor, Colm Rapple, but in fact, the company was insolvent with accumulated losses of €19m and the company applied to liquidate with a few days of the dispute starting. The group had not been in a healthy financial state for several years. When it eventually closed, with indebtedness of £19 million, 600 people lost their jobs. A relaunch in 1988 of the ''Irish Press'' as a tabloid did not help matters. In 1989, Ralph M. Ingersoll Jr. took a 50 percent stake in Irish Press Newspapers. Several efforts were made to relaunch the newspapers but these failed. Independent Newspapers invested £1.1 million for a 24.9 percent stake in Irish Press Newspapers and had made loans of £2 million when the titles ceased publication. It recouped £1 million arising from a charge against a loan when the ''Irish Press'' office in Burgh Quay was sold in 1996. The final editor from 1987 to 1995, Hugh Lambert died after a short illness on 26 December 2005.


Irish Press plc today

The company, Irish Press plc, remained in existence after cessation of printing of the main titles. Irish Press bought '' Thom's Directories'' for £355,000 in October 1999. The directors of the company are Éamon De Valera (grandson of the former Irish president that founded the newspaper) and Jimmy A. Lehenan. Vincent Jennings was Chairman 1992–2005. The company experienced mixed success with its ''Thom's Directory'' venture. Since getting out of the newspaper business, the company has struggled on occasion to produce profits. The company entered voluntary liquidation in 2017 following the sale of all its remaining assets except Thoms Directory, which had ceased printing in 2012 and moved to an online directory format afterwards. No buyer was found for Thoms, which was then itself liquidated. The Irish Press group sponsored a trophy for the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship in 1949, the winners ever since, being awarded the ''Irish Press Cup''.Whats in a Name Trophies Reveal Intriguing Histories
by Denis Hurley, Irish Examiner, www.irishexaminer.com, July 14, 2012.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish Press, The 1931 establishments in Ireland 1995 disestablishments in Ireland Press Defunct daily newspapers Defunct newspapers published in Ireland Newspapers published in the Republic of Ireland Political newspapers published in Ireland Publications established in 1931 Publications disestablished in 1995