Iconic Newspapers is a British-owned newspaper company that publishes over 20 regional newspapers in Ireland. Iconic Newspapers are owned by Mediaforce who are majority owned by British businessman Malcolm Denmark. Iconic Newspapers hold their newspaper assets in a subsidiary called Formpress Publishing. Mediaforce acts as an intermediary for the vast majority of Irish newspapers and advertising agencies. If agencies want to place ads for their national clients in newspapers, they mostly go through Mediaforce. In 2014, Iconic Newspapers acquired Johnston Press Ireland.

Johnston Press Johnston Press plc was a multimedia company founded in Falkirk, Scotland, in 1767. Its flagship titles included UK-national newspaper the '' i'', ''The Scotsman'', the ''Yorkshire Post'', the ''Falkirk Herald'', and Belfast's ''The News Letter'' ...

Ireland was formed in 2005 following the purchase of

Scottish Radio Holdings Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) was a Scottish media company which owned 22 radio stations, and around 30 local newspapers in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. History SRH had its origins in the 1970s when Glasgow was awarded the ...

's newspapers known as Score Press by

in 2005 for £155 million. In the same year, Johnston Press Ireland also purchased the Leinster Leader Group (just after Leinster Leader Group had purchased Tallaght Publishing Ltd), who published six titles, for €138.6 million. The company is based in

Naas Naas ( ; or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2022, it had a population of 26,180, making it the largest town in County Kildare (ahead of Newbridge, County Kildare, Newbridge) and the List of urban ar ...

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

History

In May 2017, it was reported that Iconic Newspapers may bid to acquire some

Landmark Media Investments Landmark Media Investments was a media holding company owned by Tom Crosbie and his father Ted Crosbie with Irish newspaper, radio and digital investments. Their ownership was via Rinvery Ltd. Landmark Media Investments was established in Februa ...

regional titles. Iconic Newspapers did not proceed with this acquisition. In September 2017, it was reported that Iconic Newspapers managing director, Joe Flaherty, had been selected to run for

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

in Longford-Westmeath. In November 2017, it was reported that Iconic Newspapers were making staff redundant at the ''

Donegal Democrat The ''Donegal Democrat'' is a twice-weekly local newspaper, covering County Donegal, Ireland. The paper was traditionally based in the town of Ballyshannon in the south of the county, but now has offices in Donegal Town (southern edition) and Le ...

''. In January 2018, the 2017 accounts were published. Revenues at Formpress Publishing Ltd declined by 2pc from €13m to €12.6m. Numbers employed by the company last year reduced from 165 to 161 with staff costs declining from €6.84m to €6.59m. In November 2018, it was announced that Iconic Newspapers had acquired 7 titles from

River Media River Media is an Irish media group that was founded in 2005. It operated local newspapers and local news websites in County Donegal, County Londonderry and County Kildare. River Media was based in Letterkenny, County Donegal, but it also had ...

. In November 2018,

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

Senator

Paudie Coffey Paudie Coffey (born 15 May 1969) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Minister of State from 2014 to 2016. He served as a Senator from 2016 to 2020, after being nominated by the Taoiseach, and previously from 2007 to 2011 for ...

sued Iconic Newspapers over an article written in the ''

Kilkenny People The ''Kilkenny People'' is a local newspaper circulated in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Popular in Kilkenny City and County, the newspaper competes with ''The Munster Express'' in the south of the county. ''The Kilkenny People'' is published on ...

''. In January 2019, the accounts up to March 2018 were published. Revenues at Formpress Publishing Ltd. declined by 3pc, from €12.6m to €12.2m. Numbers employed by the company last year increased from 161 to 163. Profits declined 6%. In March 2019, Iconic Newspapers settled a defamation action from an ex-minister over an article in the '' Tipperary Star''. In April 2019, Iconic Newspapers acquired two newspaper titles from

Alpha Newspaper Group Alpha Newspaper Group is a media group, primarily involved in local newspaper publishing and radio broadcasting, in Northern Ireland. The company's headquarters are in Moygashel near Dungannon, County Tyrone. Ownership The group is partly owned ...

. The acquisition was subject to Competition Authority approval. In October 2019, the Competition Authority approved the transaction subject to conditions. The Irish Government needed to approve the acquisition next. In August 2019, Fine Gael Senator Paudie Coffey settled his High Court action with Iconic Newspapers. In October 2019, it was reported that Ionic Newspapers were in advance talks to acquire ''

The Munster Express ''The Munster Express'' newspaper was established in 1860 in the South Eastern Irish city of Waterford. The newspaper covers stories from Waterford city and County Waterford plus south Kilkenny, co Tipperary and co Wexford. It retails at €3 ...

''. In March 2020, the accounts up to 31 March 2019 were published. The results were affected by the acquisitions. Numbers employed by the company reduced from 153 to 149. In March 2020, Iconic Newspapers let staff go due to lack of newspaper advertising due to the coronavirus pandemic. The

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union supporting journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The NUJ was founded in 1907 and has 20,693 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Trades ...

(NUJ) said that Iconic Newspapers "has laid off dozens of journalists, made a number of staff compulsorily redundant and temporarily shut two newspapers". In December 2020, it was announced that Iconic Newspapers' owners Mediaforce was subscribing £6 million in loan notes towards the sale of JPI Media Publishing Limited to National World plc.

JPIMedia National World is a British multimedia company based in Leeds, England. The company was founded and listed on the London Stock Exchange in September 2019 as a media takeover vehicle. In January 2021, it acquired JPIMedia for £10.2 million. I ...

is the third largest publisher of regional newspapers and websites in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, with over 100 newspapers including 13 daily newspapers. In January 2021, further staff cuts occurred at Iconic Newspapers publications such as the ''Tipperary Star''. In October 2021, it was announced that David Fordham had taken up a directorship role with National World, plc, at the request of Mediaforce, which is the owner of Iconic Newspapers. It was revealed in the same report that Mediaforce owns 26pc of National World. In September 2022, it was announced Iconic Media Group will purchase ''

The Mayo News ''The Mayo News'' is a weekly local newspaper published in Westport in Ireland. History and profile The ''Mayo News'' was established in Westport in 1892 by William and Patrick J Doris. In 1968 the paper's format changed from broadsheet ...

''. In December 2024, it was reported that Iconic Media Group are leading the race to acquire the Connacht Tribune.

Current Irish newspaper titles

As of 2024, the company's titles included: * ''

Derry News The ''Derry News'' is a newspaper based and published in Derry, Northern Ireland. History It was first published in February 2001. The newspaper changed hands in the summer of 2006, when a consortium including River Media and the ''Irish News ...

'' (acquired from

) * ''County Derry Post'' (acquired from

) * ''

'' (acquired from

) * '' Donegal People's Press'' (acquired from

) * '' Donegal Post'' (acquired from

) * ''

Dundalk Democrat The ''Dundalk Democrat'' is a regional newspaper printed in Dundalk, Ireland. Established in 1849, it primarily serves County Louth as well as County Monaghan and parts of County Armagh, County Down, County Cavan and County Meath. It comes out ev ...

'' (acquired from

) * '' Finn Valley Post'' (acquired from

) * '' Inish Times'' (acquired from

) * ''Kildare Post'' (acquired from

) * ''

'' (acquired from

) * ''The Kilkenny Reporter'' (launched by Iconic Newspapers, not connected to closed title called ''Kilkenny Reporter'') * ''

Leinster Express The ''Leinster Express'' is a regional newspaper in Ireland that serves County Laois. The paper was part of the Leinster Leader Group, which was sold to Johnston Press in late 2005. The paper is currently owned by Iconic Newspapers, who acquire ...

'' (acquired from

) * ''

Leinster Leader The ''Leinster Leader'' is a newspaper published in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland. Johnston Press bought the Leinster Leader Group in 2005. The Leinster Leader Group, as well as publishing the Naas-based ''Leinster Leader'' also published The ''D ...

'' (acquired from

) * '' Leitrim Observer'' (acquired from

) * ''

Letterkenny People The ''Letterkenny People'' (formerly the ''Letterkenny Listener'') is a weekly freesheet published in Letterkenny, County Donegal in northwest Ireland. The paper was originally distributed as the ''Letterkenny Listener'' in 2000 and took its cur ...

'' (acquired from

) * '' Letterkenny Post'' (acquired from

) * ''The Limerick Chronicle'' (acquired from

) * ''

Limerick Leader The ''Limerick Leader'' is a weekly local newspaper in Limerick, Ireland. It was founded in 1889. The newspaper is headquartered on Glentworth Street in the City. The broadsheet paper currently is distributed in three editions, City, County an ...

'' (acquired from

) * '' Longford Leader'' (acquired from

) * Mayo News (acquired from Dermot Berry) * ''Midland Tribune'' (acquired from

) * ''The Nationalist'' (Tipperary) (acquired from

) * '' Tipperary Star'' (acquired from

* ''Tullamore Tribune'' (acquired from

)

Former newspaper titles

* ''Limerick Chronicle'' (now a supplement in the ''

'', not a standalone title) * ''Offaly Express''

Websites

* Carlow Live * Cork Live * ''

Offaly Express The ''Offaly Express'' is an online newspaper and former print newspaper in Ireland that serves County Offaly. The paper is part of the Iconic Newspapers Group. The offices of the ''Offaly Express'' are based in Portlaoise. The paper was founded ...

'' (former newspaper title) * Derry Now * Donegal Live (involves the news teams of the ''

'', '' Donegal Post'', '' Donegal People's Press'' and '' Inish Times'')
ÉireBheo
* Kildare Now * Tipperary Live ( ''The Nationalist'' and the '' Tipperary Star'') * Waterford Live Iconic Newspapers run 23 websites in total, which are mainly websites linked to their newspaper titles.

References

{{Authority control Naas Newspapers published in the Republic of Ireland Irish companies established in 2013