‘Irish Examiner’ gains 4,000 readers

The Irish Examiner bucked the trend in national readership figures by being one of only three daily papers to post an increase.

The newspaper’s readership increased to 215,000, gaining 4,000 readers in just six months. The paper’s combined online and print daily readership stands at nearly 250,000, according to the Joint National Readership Survey for 2013.

The Irish Examiner continued its dominance in Munster where it has a daily market share of almost 30% and has 73,000 more readers than its nearest rival.

Readers were particularly attracted to the Irish Examiner’s magazines, Weekend, Feelgood, Farming and Property & Interiors which on average posted a 27% increase in readership.

Irish Examiner editor Tim Vaughan described the results as very positive and encouraging at a difficult time for the industry.

“These figures prove that no matter what some may say, there is a desire and demand for trusted, quality journalism that informs, challenges, and entertains,” he said.

He thanked the newspaper’s readers for their support and loyalty, and the Irish Examiner’s staff for their dedication.

Overall, the JNRS survey found more than 3m people in Ireland read newspapers regularly.

The survey also found that the move towards digital consumption of news is continuing, with an increase of almost 9% on the number of people who accessed news online in just six months.

Frank Cullen, co-ordinating director of National Newspapers of Ireland, was encouraged by the move.

“This is the first JNRS report that allows for comparison of online readership figures with a previous report and thus, it provides evidence of emerging trends.

“It is very positive, but not surprising, to see that online readership is growing at such a healthy pace. Our members have invested heavily in digital media and we believe that readership will continue to grow well in this area,” he said.