Ex-MP Taylor takes control of newspaper

FORMER Ulster Unionist MP John Taylor is set to take control of the Athlone Voice, a midlands regional newspaper.

Mid-Media, the paper’s holding company, yesterday declined to comment on reports that Mr Taylor, who became Lord Kilclooney when the British government made him a peer after stepping down as an MP, had stepped in with a cash injection to save the struggling paper. The paper, which was set up two years ago, confirmed it had the funds to hit the streets as usual next Tuesday and will issue a statement on its ownership over the weekend.

Mr Taylor’s Alpha Newspaper Group already owns four newspapers in the Republic - the Offaly-based Midland Tribune and Tullamore Tribune as well as the Longford News and Roscommon Champion - and a further 20 in the North. The four papers were taken over in 2003 as part of a combined deal worth in the region of €15 million.