Fiktiv Ireland - Irish Times Trust

Beat 102-103 is an independent regional radio station in the Republic of Ireland licensed by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland covering counties Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Tipperary in South East Ireland. It began broadcasting on 1 July 2003 from studios at The Broadcast Centre, Ardkeen, Waterford City (shared with Waterford station WLR FM), becoming the first station to operate under a regional licence.

The station is a Top 40 Hit/CHR station aimed at listeners aged between 15 and 35.

On 13 April 2007, Cork based Thomas Crosbie Holdings (TCH) announced it had acquired 75% ownership of both Beat 102-103 and WLR FM, in a deal worth a combined €14 million with WLR FM managing director Des Whelan keeping 25% of each. TCH already had a media presence in the South East, owning several newspapers in the region.

Thomas Crosbie Holdings went into receivership in March 2013. The 75% stake was acquired by Landmark Media Investments.

In December 2017, a sale was agreed to The Irish Times pending regulatory approval. In July 2018, the sale of the station to The Irish Times was complete.

A second stream, Noughty Beats, was launched in 2018.

Beat 102-103 is the first of a new tier of radio stations which is neither local nor national – it’s regional. It is the only station licensed to cover counties Wexford; Waterford; Carlow; Kilkenny and South Tipperary. Soon after its launch on July 1st 2003, it established itself as the market leader among young adults across the South East. The station is music driven with a broad mix of new and recent music which our target audience has told us they want to hear. Added to that, we offer news and talk programming relevant to young adults.

Beat 102-103 caters specifically for the 15-34 year old listener in Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, South Tipperary and Carlow. Beat 102-103 is a music driven station catering for the needs of a younger audience. Our vibrant and experienced team brings a new fresh energy to Irish radio. Beat 102-103 is in tune with young people’s lives, and provides innovative programming, news and sport. The presentation style is smart, friendly and indigenous with a street edge. Beat 102-103 is not parochial but maintains a sensitive approach to local issues relevant to its core audience. Our comprehensive research shows that the needs of this audience are not being catered for by local stations in the area. Beat 102-103 is committed solely to catering for the needs of a youth market.

Beat 102-103 encourages listeners to look to the whole South East for their social and entertainment needs. Beat 102-103 sponsors relevant events and become a part of youth culture and student life. We will encourage cooperation rather than competition between the counties. Beat 102-103 helps its audience develop a sense of pride about the region they live in.

We play the music our audience wants to hear all the time. Pop and chart music is the most popular, but our audience does not want repetition of playlists. Quality songs not more than 10 years old expand the music mix. Overly eclectic-styled programming such as indie hour, or live music programmes are too alienating. Radio is the primary source for initial exposure to new music and Beat 102-103 Plays The Best New Music First. Music moves from "pacy" in the mornings to a more individual and relaxing style in the evenings.

While research showed most listeners want news on the hour, a significant proportion also only wanted news at peak times. The Beat 102-103 team believes the desire for news on the hour is because the audience has never experienced any different news-time option. Our MRBI research showed that our audience wanted chart and dance music as a priority over news, but there is also no music option on other relevant radio stations on the top of the hour.

Taking these factors into consideration, we broadcast "News Beat" bulletins at ten to the hour between 6:50am and 11:50pm. This makes Beat 102-103 "first with news" as well as giving our news a unique identity. We broadcast extended bulletins at 8.50am, 12.50pm and 5.50pm. Our news is 4 minutes duration featuring world and national stories with a special emphasis on regional news followed by one minute sport. The presentation style of news and sport is upbeat and "News Beat" is presented over a music sting. International and national news is sourced from INN, while regional news is provided by our own news team and by our newspaper associations in Kilkenny, Wexford and Carlow and by associations with local stations in the region. Our audience wants entertainment news, providing that it is not too trivial. We incorporate regular entertainment news updates into our daily broadcasting repertoire.

The weather on Beat 102-103 is a prominent part of the service. Presented in a lively upbeat style by the newsreaders Beat 102-103 gives listeners an accurate weather report following each news and sports update. The reports include references to weather expected in different areas in the region that day and with nearly 160 miles of coastline and four of Ireland’s largest rivers in the franchise area, Beat 102-103 weather will sign-off in summer with high tide times at Youghal, Dungarvan, Tramore, Rosslare, Wexford and Wicklow, plus surf expectations at Tramore and Courtown.

Beat 102-103 presents news and talk programming which is relevant to the age profile of the audience we broadcast to. Our research repeatedly showed that our audience has no interest in traditional straight forward coverage of current affairs or issues. Research also indicates a requirement for a talk content, magazine-style show mid morning. "Sound Out" requires a strong personality who can turn the issues of the day on their head. This requires a presenter who can communicate in a witty colloquial and intelligent manner.  Beat 102-103 has also identified an audience for a late night talk programme that reflects the opinions of listeners in the South East and tackles the issues that concerns them. "Under Cover" will promote debate and controversial thought and is broadcast from 9pm to 12 midnight Monday to Friday. On Sunday night "One to One on Beat" gives young listeners the opportunity to have their problems discussed. Listener’s letters, e-mails and text messages are encouraged and experts on subjects from suicide to lone parenting are invited in studio.

Beat 102-103 has identified sport as an area which given the proper coverage can help the station establish its own original youthful identity. Research shows that the audience want sport news in well-flagged one minute bulletins every hour. At the weekends sport becomes a bigger priority. Every Saturday Beat 102-103 presents Sports Beat, pacy and passionate with audio cuts and a high level of coverage given to hurling, football and golf. Because Beat 102-103 is a music driven station, the show is divided into to half hour slots, from 1:00pm-1:30pm and from 5:00pm-5:30pm. Sports Beat highlights and previews the big regional sports fixtures for the weekend. On Sunday afternoons listeners can call in with their opinion on sporting events of the week during our listeners chart show Text Top 40.

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WLR FM or "WLR" (Waterford Local Radio), licensed since 1989 (WLR had previously been a pirate radio station) by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, is the local radio station covering Waterford City and County. In addition to the official franchise area, the station also enjoys a considerable listenership in South County Kilkenny and East County Cork. WLR broadcasts on three frequencies: 95.1 MHz for most of the county (and a low-power transmitter also on 95.1 MHz for Waterford city centre), 97.5 MHz for Waterford city and much of East Waterford, and a low-power transmitter on 94.8 MHz to cover the East Waterford coast.

The original WLR, which was a pirate station, launched on 23 June 1978 broadcasting from the garage of Rick Whelan at Killotteran just outside the city. This unlicensed operation was one of the longest lasting in the country and continued for just over a decade until its closure at the end of 1988 – new radio licences were to be awarded by the then IRTC (now BCI) in 1989. WLR, with a number of local businessmen on board formed a consortium to apply for the franchise to broadcast to Waterford city and county. This application had competition from two other applicants, one (Deise Broadcasting Company) involved former pirate ABC Radio and local business people including the Reid family (owners of the well-known 'Egans' licensed premises where ABC was based before its closure), and another application (Waterford Radio/WRFM) which was backed by the then Waterford Foods and The Munster Express newspaper. The IRTC held oral hearings for the Waterford licence at the Tower Hotel in Waterford city on 27 April 1989 where all three applicants presented their case. Shortly afterwards it was announced WLR's consortium was victorious. The licensed WLR FM launched on 8 September 1989 from studios on Georges Street above the Georges Court Shopping Centre in Waterford City. The station broadcast from these studios for many years until the building of the present purpose-built Broadcast Centre, at Ardkeen, Waterford. The station's licence has been unchallenged on subsequent renewals.

The station was 75% owned by Thomas Crosbie Holdings until that company went into receivership in March 2013. The 75% stake was acquired by Landmark Media Investments.

In December 2017, a sale of the 75% stake was agreed to The Irish Times pending regulatory approval. In July 2018, the sale of the station to The Irish Times was complete.

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Cork's RedFM is an Irish radio station which broadcasts to Cork and the surrounding area, and is aimed at a youth audience. The station commenced broadcasting on 16 January 2002 and was awarded Ireland's first youth radio licence. Its target market is the 15-35 age group in Cork city and county.

Some of RedFM's key personnel had previously worked with "Longwave, Atlantic 252" which ceased broadcasting on Thursday 20 December 2001. RedFM's first Chief Executive, Cork native Henry Condon and former presenter Charlie Wolf, a Boston native, were both well known voices on Atlantic 252. Adrian Bodenham was Red FM's Production Director at launch, and moved to Ireland to join the team from the UK's Virgin Radio. The station has picked up 13 PPI Radio Awards since first broadcasting, including winning the "Best Breakfast Show" award two years in a row, in 2008 and 2009. In 2014 the station signed up a well known Cork Presenter Neil Prendeville. Neil had previously been a staple of rival local station Cork's 96FM. Listenership to RedFM has improved since the transfer.

In December 2017, a sale was agreed of the 36% of Red FM owned by Landmark Media Investments to The Irish Times pending regulatory approval. In July 2018, the 36% stake in the station to The Irish Times was complete.

RedFM’s programming philosophy is dedicated to serving the young radio audiences of Cork city and county, with a popular music format and an emphasis on what is fun, informative and relevant to the 15-35 target age groups. Red FM’s music policy is driven by the hit songs of today and the last five years. From 0100-1800, a diverse range of modern music styles - from Indie to pop to rock to R ‘n’ B – is the music mainstay. After seven o’clock each evening, a show called Music Overload presents 2 hours of the hottest chart music, targeting the younger end of our age spectrum. Further specialist music shows at the weekend include a three hour Irish music show called Green on Red and a modern R ‘n’ B show called Radio Rapture on Saturday nights.

Our consumer research highlighted a strong appetite for news, whether world, local or national news, with respective scores of 84%, 91% and 90% wanting this information. In general, the majority favoured news bulletins that would be longer than 3 minutes, with the majority favouring under 15 minutes. As a result, news bulletins have 5 minute duration. We broadcast our news bulletins at ten to the hour between 6:50am and 6:50pm except at 12:45pm when an extended 8 minute news bulletin “Red Edition“ is broadcast, bringing listeners up to date with the latest in world, national, and local news followed by a sports bulletin. In addition news headlines are broadcast on the half hour at 6:30am, 7:30am, 8:30am, 4:30pm, 5:30pm and 6:30pm. The half hour headline lasts for 2 minutes with a focus on national and local stories and includes a sports headline and traffic and travel update.

Entertainment News is broadcast on the hour each hour between 7pm and 6am, the duration of which is 3 minutes and features Showbiz gossip, Celebrity news both national and international as well as music news.

A key feature of Red FM’s approach to news is our decision to run our main bulletins at ten minutes to each hour rather than the traditional top of the hour. This ensures we are the first with news across the region and give people another reason to tune in. It also provides a choice of listening when all other services are broadcasting news, another point of difference.

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The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. The Irish Times launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Paul O'Neill. The deputy editor is Deirdre Veldon. The Irish Times is published every day except Sundays.

Though formed as a Protestant nationalist paper, within two decades and under new owners it had become the voice of British unionism in Ireland. It is no longer marketed as a unionist paper; it presents itself politically as "liberal and progressive", as well as promoting neoliberalism on economic issues. The editorship of the newspaper from 1859 until 1986 was controlled by the Anglo-Irish Protestant minority, only gaining its first nominal Irish Catholic editor 127 years into its existence.

The paper's most prominent columnists include writer and arts commentator Fintan O'Toole and satirist Miriam Lord. The late Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald was once a columnist. Senior international figures, including Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, have written for its op-ed page. Its most prominent columns have included the political column Backbencher, by John Healy, Drapier (an anonymous piece produced weekly by a politician, giving the 'insider' view of politics), Rite and Reason (a weekly religious column, edited by Patsy McGarry, the 'religious affairs' editor) and the long-running An Irishman's Diary. An Irishman's Diary was written by Patrick Campbell in the forties (under the pseudonym 'Quidnunc'); by Seamus Kelly from 1949 to 1979 (also writing as 'Quidnunc'); and more recently by Kevin Myers. After Myers' move to the rival Irish Independent, An Irishman's Diary has usually been the work of Frank McNally. On the sports pages, Philip Reid is the paper's golf correspondent.

One of its most popular columns was the biting and humorous Cruiskeen Lawn satire column written, originally in Irish, later in English, by Myles na gCopaleen, the pen name of Brian O'Nolan (Brian Ó Nualláin) who also wrote books using the name Flann O'Brien. Cruiskeen Lawn is an anglicised spelling of the Irish words crúiscín lán, meaning 'full little jug'. Cruiskeen Lawn made its debut in October 1940, and appeared with varying regularity until O'Nolan's death in 1966.

The first appearance of a newspaper using the name The Irish Times occurred in 1823, but this closed in 1825. The title was revived—initially as a thrice-weekly publication but soon becoming a daily—by a 22-year-old army officer, Lawrence E. Knox (later known as Major Lawrence Knox), with the first edition being published on 29 March 1859. It was founded as a moderate Protestant newspaper, reflecting the politics of Knox, who envisaged it as a "new conservative daily newspaper". Its headquarters were at 4 Lower Abbey Street in Dublin. Its main competitor in its early days was the Dublin Daily Express.

After Knox's death in 1873, the paper was sold to the widow of Sir John Arnott, MP, a former Lord Mayor of Cork and owner of Arnotts, one of Dublin's major Department stores. The sale, for £35,000, led to two major changes. Its headquarters was shifted to 31 Westmoreland Street, remaining in buildings on or near that site until 2005. Its politics also shifted dramatically, becoming predominantly Unionist in outlook, and it was closely associated with the Irish Unionist Alliance. The paper, along with the Irish Independent and various regional papers, called for the execution of the leaders of the failed 1916 Easter Rising.

Though the paper became a publicly listed company in 1900, the family continued to hold a majority shareholding until the 1960s (even after the family lost control, the great-grandson of the original purchaser was the paper's London editor). The last member of the Arnott family to sit on the paper's board was Sir Lauriston Arnott, who died in 1958.

The editor during the 1930s, R. M. Smyllie, had strong anti-fascist views: he angered the Irish Catholic hierarchy by opposing General Franco during the Spanish Civil War. Later, The Irish Times, like other national newspapers, had problems with Irish Government censorship during World War II. The Times was largely pro-Allied and was opposed to the Éamon de Valera government's policy of neutrality.

In 1969, the longest-serving editor of The Irish Times, Douglas Gageby, was allegedly called a "white nigger" by the company chairman (a former Irish British army officer), because of the newspaper's coverage of Northern Ireland at the outset of the Troubles, which was upsetting the British government.

In 1974, ownership was transferred to a non-charitable trust, The Irish Times Trust. The former owner, Major Thomas McDowell, was made "president for life" of the trust which runs the paper and was paid a large dividend. However several years later the articles of the Trust were adjusted, giving Major McDowell 10 preference shares and one more vote than the combined votes of all the other directors should any move be made to remove him. Major McDowell died in 2009. The Trust was set up in 1974 as "a company limited by guarantee" to purchase The Irish Times Limited and to ensure that The Irish Times would be published as an independent newspaper with specific editorial objectives.

The Trust is regulated by a legal document, the Memorandum and Articles of Association, and controlled by a body of people (the Governors) under company law. It is not a charity and does not have charitable status. It has no beneficial shareholders and it cannot pay dividends. Any profits made by The Irish Times cannot be distributed to the Trust but must be used to strengthen the newspaper, directly or indirectly.

The Trust is composed of a maximum of 11 Governors. The Trust appoints Governors who are required to be "representative broadly of the community throughout the whole of Ireland".

The paper established its first bureau in Asia when foreign correspondent Conor O'Clery moved to Beijing in 1996.

The paper suffered considerable financial difficulty in 2002 when a drop in advertising revenue coincided with a decision by the company to invest its reserves in the building of a new printing plant. None of the journalists were laid off, but it stopped publishing 'colour' pages devoted to Irish regions, with regional coverage now merged with news. The paper's problems stemmed partly from internal strife which led to Major McDowells's daughter, Karen Erwin, not being made chief executive. The reorganisation had the desired effect; after posting losses of almost €3 million in 2002, the paper returned to profit in 2003.

John Waters, a columnist who spoke out about the perceived vast salaries of the editor, managing director and deputy editor, was sacked and re-hired a week later, in November 2003. Former editor Geraldine Kennedy was paid more than the editor of the UK's top non-tabloid newspaper The Daily Telegraph, which has a circulation of about nine times that of The Irish Times. Later, columnist Fintan O'Toole told the Sunday Independent: "We as a paper are not shy of preaching about corporate pay and fat cats but with this there is a sense of excess. Some of the sums mentioned are disturbing. This is not an attack on Ms Kennedy, it is an attack on the executive level of pay. There is double-standard of seeking more job cuts while paying these vast salaries.

In January 2005, the paper was due to run a front-page story on the Provisional IRA's denial of involvement in the Northern Bank robbery, one of Europe's largest ever, and a column by Kevin Myers, which said that the Provisional IRA were responsible. Myers asked for clarification of the decision from the editor, and later left the paper.

The following May, the paper launched a new international edition, which is available in London and southeast England at the same time as other daily newspapers (previously, copies of the Irish edition were flown from Dublin to major cities in Britain on passenger flights, arriving around lunchtime). It is printed at the Newsfax plant in Hackney, and uses the Financial Times distribution network.

The newspaper has been criticized for its perceived support of the British Army. An article in The Phoenix magazine examined an article in The Irish Times published in August 2010 on Irish nationals serving in the British Army. According to The Phoenix, the article romanticized the war in Afghanistan and was little more than a recruitment advertisement for the British Army. The magazine accused the editor Geraldine Kennedy and the Irish Times board of violating the Defence Act which prohibits any kind of advertising for recruitment for a foreign army and article 15.6.1 of the Constitution of Ireland which states "The right to raise and maintain military or armed forces is vested exclusively in the Oireachtas".

The company has diversified from its original Irish Times title as a source of revenue. Irish Times Limited has taken a majority share for €5m in the Gazette Group Newspapers, a group publishing three local newspapers in West Dublin, and has acquired a property website, MyHome.ie, the second-largest property internet website in Ireland, for €50m, seen as insurance against the loss of revenue from traditional classified property advertising. In June 2009, journalists called on the board and trust to review "the flawed investment and diversification strategy of the company" and passed a motion saying that "ongoing investment in loss-making projects poses a serious threat to employment" at the newspaper. Four months later, the company announced a loss of €37 million and that 90 staff would be made redundant. The director, Maeve Donovan, who instigated the "investment and diversification" strategy, subsequently retired. She dismissed suggestions that she would receive a significant "golden handshake", saying that her package would be "nothing out of the ordinary at all". She was given a €1m "ex-gratia" payment by the newspaper "relating to a commutation of pension rights agreed with her".

The managing director said in 2009 that mobile phone applications would be a key investment for newspapers and The Irish Times now has an application for the iPhone and Android smartphones.

In June 2010, Gazette group newspapers' managing director claimed the company's affairs were being conducted oppressively by its majority shareholder, the Irish Times.

In 1895, the paper moved from its original offices on Middle Abbey Street to D'Olier Street in the centre of Dublin. "D'Olier Street" became a metonym of The Irish Times which in turn was personified as "The Old Lady of D'Olier Street". In October 2006, the paper relocated to a new building on nearby Tara Street.

The paper has the same standard layout every day. The front page contains one main picture and three main news stories, with the left-hand column, News Digest, providing a 'teaser' of some of the stories inside the Home News, World News, Sport and Business Today sections as well as other information such as winning lottery numbers and weather forecasts. Inside, it usually contains eight to twelve pages of Irish news, called "Home News", covering the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It devotes several pages to important stories such as the publication of government reports, government budgets, important courts cases, and so on.

World News contains news from its correspondents abroad and from news wires and services such as Reuters, the Guardian Service, and the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post service. The paper has correspondents in Beijing, Belfast, London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, and Washington.

The Irish Times publishes its residential property supplement every Thursday, one of the printed residential property listings for the Dublin area. This is also online. Motoring and employment supplements are published on Wednesday and Friday respectively, and are also online.

A business supplement is published every Friday, as is an entertainment supplement called The Ticket, with film, music, theatre reviews, interviews, articles, and media listings. It features cinema writer Donald Clarke and music writers Jim Carroll, Brian Boyd, Tony Clayton-Lea and others. Michael Dwyer, the distinguished film critic and recipient of the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, wrote for the supplement until his death in 2010.

On Saturdays, a Weekend section is published, with news features, arts profiles, television and radio columns, and book reviews of mainly literary and biographical works, with occasional reviews in the technology sector. The Saturday edition also includes the Magazine with consumer and lifestyle features on food, wine, gardening, and there are travel and sports supplements.

Three Sudoku puzzles and two crosswords are published daily including a cryptic crossword, formerly compiled by "Crosaire", and a "Simplex" crossword. There is also a letters page. J.J. Walsh has contributed a chess puzzle to the paper since April 1955, originally weekly the puzzle became a daily fixture in September 1972.

The paper carries political cartoons by Martyn Turner and the American cartoon strip, Doonesbury. The business section has a satirical illustration by David Rooney every Friday. Tom Mathews contributes an arts-inspired cartoon (called "Artoon") to the arts section on Saturday.

A weekly Irish language page is carried on Wednesdays.

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The Irish Examiner, formerly The Cork Examiner and then The Examiner, is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country.

During the Spanish Civil War, the Cork Examiner took a strongly pro-Franco tone in its coverage of the conflict.

Though originally appearing under The Cork Examiner title, it was re-branded in 1996 to The Examiner, and subsequently in 2000 to The Irish Examiner - to appeal to a more national readership.

The newspaper, along with 'sister paper' the Evening Echo, was part of the Thomas Crosbie Holdings group. Thomas Crosbie Holdings went into receivership in March 2013. The newspaper was acquired by Landmark Media Investments.

As of 2004, its Chief Executive was Thomas J. Murphy, and its editor was Tim Vaughan. Vaughan left the group in August 2016.

The newspaper was based at Academy Street, Cork for over a century, before moving to new offices at Lapp's Quay, Cork in early November 2006, and subsequently to editorial offices at Blackpool, Cork, with a sales office in Oliver Plunkett Street.

In February 2017, it was reported that Landmark Media Investments had appointed KPMG to advise on a range of options, including an Independent News and Media (INM) "link" with the Irish Examiner.

In March 2017, it was reported that The Irish Times might bid for the Irish Examiner, and by April 2017 both The Irish Times and INM had entered a sales process and signed non-disclosure agreements.

In May 2017, it was reported that Sunrise Media and The Irish Times were exploring an acquisition, and in December 2017, a sale was agreed to The Irish Times - pending regulatory approval. The sale to The Irish Times was completed in July 2018.

The Irish Examiner is a significant national broadsheet newspaper challenging conventional choices. It offers a vital, refreshingly objective approach to national and international news and current affairs with journalists who are recognised experts in business, finance, politics, law, technology, property, sport, culture, health and topics of general interest.

Our strength in sports, our 6 day range of supplements and the added extra of our Munster coverage all contribute to the Irish Examiner's unique profile.

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The Echo, formerly known as the Evening Echo, is an Irish evening newspaper based in Cork. It is distributed throughout the province of Munster, although it is primarily read in its base city of Cork. The newspaper was founded as a broadsheet in 1892, and has been published in tabloid format since 1991.

The newspaper was part of the Thomas Crosbie Holdings group, and 'sister paper' to the group's Irish Examiner (formerly the Cork Examiner). Thomas Crosbie Holdings went into receivership in March 2013. The newspaper was acquired by Landmark Media Investments, which in turn was sold to The Irish Times in 2018.

Unlike the Irish Examiner, which is now a national daily, The Echo's focus is on local news. The Echo is published daily except Sunday.

The Evening Echo was first published in 1892. It was launched as an evening paper by Thomas Crosbie, then proprietor of the Cork Examiner. Crosbie had himself joined the Examiner in 1841, taking over as editor - and later owner - after the death of founder John Francis Maguire in 1871. The newspaper remained in the hands of the Crosbie family until the 21st century.

The presses used by the Examiner and Echo printed the First National Loan for the Sinn Féin Finance Minister Michael Collins in 1919, leading to the British authorities' briefly shutting down the paper. The I.R.A damaged the printing presses in 1920, and they were destroyed by the anti-Treaty I.R.A. in 1922.

For decades the Evening Echo had been connected to the "Echo Boys", who were poor and often homeless children that sold the newspaper.

The title was sold in July 2018, along with other assets of Landmark Media Investments, to The Irish Times group.

In January 2019, it was announced that in March 2019 the Evening Echo would rebrand as The Echo.

The Echo is the dominant evening newspaper for Munster with greatest concentration of its sales in Cork city and Limerick city. Published daily it is a quality tabloid, providing its readers with a distinctive combination of local, national and international news and sports.

It reports and explores contemporary Cork life and is at the heart of all that happens in Cork city and the region. Each day the newspaper carries a supplement of special interest to our readers covering sport, classified free ads, women's issues, entertainment, property and television. It has won many awards for its design and news coverage. It produces two editions daily - Cork and Limerick.