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The ''Sunday World'' is an Irish newspaper published by
Independent News & Media Mediahuis Ireland (formally Independent News and Media (INM) )) is a media organisation that is based in Dublin and publishes national daily newspapers, Sunday newspapers, regional newspapers and operates multiple websites including Independent. ...
. It is the second largest selling "popular" newspaper in the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
, and is also sold in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
where a modified edition with more stories relevant to that region is produced. It was first published on 25 March 1973. Until 25 December 1988 all editions were printed in Dublin but since 1 January 1989 a Northern Ireland edition has been published and an English edition has been printed in London since March 1992.


Origins

The ''Sunday World'' was Ireland's first tabloid newspaper. Hugh McLaughlin and Gerry McGuinness launched it on 25 March 1973. It broke new ground in layout, content, agenda, columnists and use of sexual imagery. In 1976 and 1982 it was the only newspaper in the country published on St. Stephen's Day. The title also publishes a separate Northern Ireland newspaper edition. It is owned by Independent News & Media, a subsidiary of Mediahuis. Over the years it has gained a reputation for its hard-hitting crime reporting, special investigations, Irish showbiz and sport analysis and is home to award-winning journalists like
Nicola Tallant Nicola Tallant (born 1974) is an Irish investigative journalist, specialising in organised crime. She is known for her work at the ''Sunday World''. Background Tallant studied at the College of Commerce, Rathmines in the 1990s, graduating with ...
, Patrick O’Connell, Eddie Rowley and Roy Curtis. On November 6th 2022 new look paper hit the shops for the first time some years.


Developments

In 2012, a voluntary redundancy scheme was put in place, which was oversubscribed. In early 2013, it was announced that the ''
Irish Daily Star The ''Irish Daily Star'' (formerly known simply as ''The Star'') is a tabloid newspaper published in Ireland by Reach plc, which owns the British '' Daily Star''. The ''Irish Daily Star'' became known for its comprehensive in-depth coverage o ...
'' and the ''Sunday World'' would start to share some functions. In 2014, another redundancy scheme was announced. The redundancy scheme was due to the sharing of functions with the ''
Evening Herald ''The Herald'' is a nationwide mid-market tabloid newspaper headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and published by Independent News & Media who are a subsidiary of Mediahuis. It is published Monday–Saturday. The newspaper was known as the ''Ev ...
''. In March 2017, it was announced that INM are merging the ''Sunday World'' and '' The Herald'' newsrooms. Later in 2017, INM announced that they were closing the ''Sunday World'' website.


Digital archive

Issues from 14 June 1987 to 2006 are online at the
British Newspaper Archive The British Newspaper Archive web site provides access to searchable digitized archives of British and Irish newspapers. It was launched in November 2011. History The British Library Newspapers section was based in Colindale in north London, u ...
. There plans for a full archive as far back as (1973-present) to mark the papers 50th anniversary in March 2023. In 2022 copies since 2018 were made on the
Irish Newspaper Archive The Irish Newspaper Archives is a commercial online database of digitised Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ...
.


Investigative journalism

In 2001, a journalist working for the paper in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, Martin O'Hagan, was killed by
Loyalist paramilitaries Ulster loyalism is a strand of Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and oppose a uni ...
in
Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...
, Co Armagh. O'Hagan was the first journalist to draw attention to the activities of Billy Wright. Wright lived only a few miles from O'Hagan in north Armagh, and had attempted to have the journalist murdered in 1992. The threat was sufficient to cause O'Hagan to temporarily move to the ''Sunday World'' office in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, and then to
Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
. He continued working for the newspaper, returning to his family in Lurgan in the late 1990s. When killed, O'Hagan became the first reporter covering the Northern Ireland conflict to be killed by paramilitaries. On 1 May 2005 it alleged double standards by a prominent member of the
Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...
(DUP). It claimed that the unionist politician, Paul Berry had been caught in a
sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a role a ...
by the newspaper when he met a male masseur in a room booked under a false name in a
Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
hotel. According to the paper, Berry asked the man upon meeting him: "I hope you're a Prod?" Berry denied the allegations, claiming that he was seeking treatment for a sports injury, and is considering legal action. In the 2005 general election five days later Berry was the DUP candidate for
Newry and Armagh Newry and Armagh can refer to: * Newry and Armagh (Assembly constituency) *Newry and Armagh (UK Parliament constituency) Newry and Armagh is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Mickey Brady o ...
but was one of the few DUP candidates to experience a fall in their share of the vote in favour of the
Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...
while everywhere else in the province the DUP gained at the expense of its main rival. The DUP were to the forefront in the campaign of the 1970s and 1980s to stop the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland. On 4 July 2005 it was announced that Berry had been suspended from the DUP following an internal disciplinary panel meeting. The paper has been noted in its hard-hitting coverage of crime in the Republic of Ireland compared to other papers. It has been to the forefront of exposing the emergence and growth of organised crime in Ireland throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. In the 1990s it broke the story about the secret life being led by controversial priest Fr Michael Cleary, revealing that he had a secret family with his housekeeper Phyllis Hamilton. Along with the Bishop Eamon Casey story and revelations about clerical child abuse, the Cleary story is viewed as one of the defining moments in the decline of the authority of the Catholic Church in Ireland. In 2008 the paper was the first to expose the controversial fundraising activities of the House of Prayer run by self-proclaimed visionary Christina Gallagher in Achill, Co Mayo. It also revealed the lavish lifestyle Gallagher was leading. The House of Prayer made over 100 individual complaints to the press ombudsman about the investigation, all of which were dismissed. In 2005 the paper was sued by a well known Dublin criminal figure Martin "the Viper" Foley after it reported that he was a leading figure in gang related crime and had links with the IRA elements. Foley argued that the report placed his life in jeopardy and sought to gag the paper. The attempt failed as the High Court rejected his allegations and refused to prevent further reporting. In 2010 the paper won a landmark legal ruling when a privacy and defamation case taken by Ruth Hickey was dismissed by the President of the High Court Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns. The ruling copperfastened the importance of freedom of expression in Irish law and stated that it can only be outweighed by the right to privacy in limited circumstances. Mr Justice Kearns also defended the right of the newspaper to publish information that was clearly in the public domain on the internet (in this case the infamous 'Zip Up Your Mickey' phone rant by Twink whose husband had left her for Ms Hickey). On 19 March 2006, ''Sunday World'' reporter Hugh Jordan tracked down former Sinn Féin official and British Forces informant
Denis Donaldson Denis Martin Donaldson (1950 – 4 April 2006) was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and a member of Sinn Féin who was killed following his exposure in December 2005 as an informer in the employ of MI5 and the Specia ...
at a remote, rustic cottage in County Donegal. Sixteen days later, Donaldson was murdered there, and the paper was heavily criticised for identifying and showing a photo of the location. In 2009 the Real IRA claimed responsibility for the killing. On 1 November 2009, Northern Editor Jim McDowell attracted complaints to the
Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Indep ...
after the paper published on the front page the photograph of a man hanging from a bridge, having killed himself under the headline "Halloween Horror". McDowell claimed on
Stephen Nolan Stephen Raymond Nolan (born 20 August 1973) is a Northern Irish radio and television presenter for BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Radio 5 ''Live'', and is the highest earning broadcaster that the BBC employ in the Province. Early life Born in ...
's
BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster ( ga, BBC Raidió Uladh) is a Northern Irish radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. It is ...
show on 2 November that it was meant to dissuade individuals thinking about suicide but the decision to publish was condemned by suicide awareness and support groups. It is noted for its strong Irish coverage in a newspaper market awash with 'Irish editions' of the main British newspapers such as the ''Sunday Mirror'' and ''Mail on Sunday''. Among its Irish sports writers are Pat Spillane, Paul McGrath, Kevin Moran, Charlie Nicholas, John Aldridge, Denis Irwin and Mick Galwey. Columnists include Amanda Brunker, Paddy Murray, Fr Brian Darcy and Daniel O'Donnell. On 12 June 2022, it reported about Charlie Bird on his future grave since having
Motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...
.


Awards

In 2008, the newspaper won the prize for the Newspaper of the Year (Sunday) at the annual
Chartered Institute of Public Relations The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is a professional body in the United Kingdom for public relations practitioners. Founded as the Institute for Public Relations in 1948, CIPR was awarded Chartered status by the Privy Council o ...
Press and Broadcast Awards for Northern Ireland. The ''Sunday World'' Investigations Editor Nicola Tallant was named the Crime Reporter of the Year by the National Newspapers of Ireland three times, in 2012, 2016 and 2019. In 2016, The Sunday World won the prize for 'Scoop of the year' at the Newsbrands Ireland Journalist of the Year awards for its exclusive coverage of the Regency Hotel gangland murder. Paddy Murray - Columnist of the Year (Popular) - 2016 Pat O’Connell – News reporter of the year – 2016 Eddie Rowley – Showbiz journalist of the year – 2019 Nicola Tallant – Crime journalist of the year – 2012,2016, 2019 Roy Curtis – Sport journalist of the year – 2013, 2019 Alan Sherry – Crime story of the year – 2016


Circulation

In 2019,
Independent News & Media Mediahuis Ireland (formally Independent News and Media (INM) )) is a media organisation that is based in Dublin and publishes national daily newspapers, Sunday newspapers, regional newspapers and operates multiple websites including Independent. ...
exited the ABC auditing process. Hence, no circulation figures are available after 2018.


Christmas Edition

Instead of the normal Sunday World on Sunday for the issue of December 25th 2022 a special Christmas edition will be published on Saturday December 24th with an early deadline of 2.00 p.m. on Friday December 23rd for copy. As always the case when Sunday is
Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
. After 2022 there will be no year that Christmas Day is falling on Sunday until 2033.


References


External links


Scotsman: ''Brave journalism reveals Northern Ireland's underbelly''
{{Newspapers in the Republic of Ireland 1973 establishments in Ireland Newspapers published in Ireland Publications established in 1973
World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...