Galway Indo directors buy Cork freesheet

The directors of Galway Independent Newspapers, Declan Dooley and Jarlath Feeney, have acquired Inside Cork, the largest freesheet newspaper in Cork city and county.

Dooley and Feeney, trading as the Mach3 Media Group, bought the newspaper as a going concern from UTV Plc for an undisclosed six-figure sum.

Inside Cork was founded in 1996 by Cork radio station 96 FM. UTV acquired the newspaper as part of the £32m purchase of Radio County Sound in 2001.

Commenting on the purchase Declan Dooley said: “We are delighted to have acquired Inside Cork from UTV. We believe the newspaper has enormous potential and we plan to more than double its current circulation to over 50,000 copies per week over the coming months.

"Inside Cork is a free newspaper and will remain free."

Commenting on the sale, Ronan Mc Manamy, Managing Director of Cork’s 96FM, said: "We decided to sell Inside Cork so we can focus fully on radio, our core business."