Profit dip as papers battle
The latest figures filed by the Ennis-based broadsheet Champion shows that pre tax profits fell by €122,347 to €465,999 in the 12 months to January 1, 2004.
Clare Champion managing editor John Galvin has launched a national recruitment campaign to replace former editor Gerry Collison. He left the paper in January to become managing editor of the Clare People which is expected to hit the streets by mid-summer, most likely in June.
Mr Galvin declined to comment yesterday on the company's fall in profits or the challenges posed by the launch of a rival paper in Clare where, up to now, the Champion was the region's sole paid-for newspaper.
It is not expected that Mr Collison will poach any of the Champion's current staff as the paper is regarded as being a good employer and among the top payers in the regional newspaper circuit.
Millionaire Ennis businessmen Dómhnal Slattery and Seán Lyne are the main backers of the new paper.
Mr Collison said: "We have been taken aback by the level of unsolicited support we are getting. Serious consideration is being given to broadening the shareholder base to enable key advertisers become stakeholders in the business."
