We’re on the increase ...

... and the latest independently audited figures prove that we continue to go from strength to strength.

Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figures released yesterday show circulation growth of 1.45% for the Irish Examiner.

The sales figures are for the last six months of 2005 and relate to actively purchased copies of the paper - the key barometer of circulation success.

This marks the third consecutive ABC reporting period where we have recorded a sales increase.

Last night chief executive Tom Murphy welcomed the latest increase and said he was looking forward to readership figures from the annual Joint National Readership Survey, which will be released next week.

Mr Murphy said the sales increase was achieved through a combination of excellent, agenda-setting journalism and innovative marketing initiatives, allied to strong field-sales activity. “We are producing superb newspapers and we are getting the results,” he said.

The figures exclude bulk sales, copies bought at discount by third parties, such as hotels, often given away free. These were reduced from 3,339 copies a day to 2,829. When included in circulation figures they give a total sales increase of 0.5% - to 59,070 - over the same period in 2004.