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| Type | Sunday newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | Independent News and Media who are a subsidiary ofMediahuis[1] |
| Editor | Brian Farrell |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Political alignment | Right wing populism[citation needed] |
| Headquarters | Talbot Street, Dublin |
| Circulation | 75,000[2] |
| Website | sundayworld.com |
TheSunday World is an Irish newspaper published byIndependent News & Media.[3] It is the second largest selling "popular" newspaper in theRepublic of Ireland,[4] and is also sold inNorthern Ireland where a modified edition with more stories relevant to that region is produced. It was first published on 25 March 1973.[5] 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.
TheSunday World was Ireland's firsttabloid newspaper.Hugh McLaughlin and Gerry McGuinness launched it on 25 March 1973.[citation needed] 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 onSt. Stephen's Day.[citation needed]
The title also publishes a separate Northern Ireland newspaper edition.
It is owned by Independent News & Media, a subsidiary ofMediahuis.[6]
In 2012, a voluntary redundancy scheme was put in place, which was oversubscribed.[7] In early 2013, it was announced that theIrish Daily Star and theSunday World would start to share some functions.[8]
In 2014, another redundancy scheme was announced. The redundancy scheme was due to the sharing of functions with theEvening Herald.[9]
In March 2017, it was announced that INM are merging theSunday World andThe Herald newsrooms.[10] Later in 2017, INM announced that they were closing theSunday World website.[11]
Issues from 14 June 1987 to 2006 are online at theBritish Newspaper Archive.
In 2001, a journalist working for the paper inNorthern Ireland,Martin O'Hagan, was killed byLoyalist paramilitaries inLurgan, Co Armagh. O'Hagan was the first journalist to draw attention to the activities ofBilly 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 theSunday World office inDublin, and then toCork. 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.[12][13]
In 2005 the paper was sued by a well known Dublin criminal figureMartin "the Viper" Foley after it reported that he was a leading figure in gang related crime and had links with the IRA elements.[citation needed] 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.[14]
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 yourmickey" telephone voicemail rant byTwink 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 informantDenis Donaldson at a remote, rustic cottage in County Donegal.[15][16] 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.[17]
On 1 November 2009, Northern Editor Jim McDowell attracted complaints to thePress Complaints Commission 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".[18] McDowell claimed onStephen Nolan'sBBC Radio Ulster 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.[19]
In 2008, the newspaper won the prize for the Newspaper of the Year (Sunday) at the annualChartered Institute of Public Relations Press and Broadcast Awards for Northern Ireland.[20]TheSunday World Investigations Editor Nicola Tallant was named the Crime Reporter of the Year by theNational Newspapers of Ireland three times, in 2012, 2016 and 2019.[21]
In 2016, The Sunday World won the prize for 'Scoop of the year' at theNewsbrands Ireland Journalist of the Year awards for its exclusive coverage of the Regency Hotel gangland murder.[22]
Paddy Murray - Columnist of the Year (Popular) - 2016
Pat O'Connell – News reporter of the year – 2016[23]
Eddie Rowley – Showbiz journalist of the year – 2019[24]
Nicola Tallant – Crime journalist of the year – 2012,2016, 2019
Roy Curtis – Sport journalist of the year – 2013, 2019[24]
Alan Sherry – Crime story of the year – 2016[25]
| Year (period) | Average circulation per issue |
|---|---|
| 1999 (January to June)[26] | 308,848 |
| 2000[27] | 311,000 |
| 2008 (July to December)[28] | 285,214 |
| 2009 (July to December)[28] | 270,453 |
| 2011 (January to December)[29] | 250,667 |
| 2013 (July to December)[30] | 208,281 |
| 2015 (January to June)[31] | 178,867 |
| 2015 (July to December)[32] | 175,060 |
| 2016 (January to June)[33] | 162,938 |
| 2016 (July to December)[34] | 149,652 |
| 2017 (January to June)[35] | 143,503 |
| 2017 (July to December)[36] | 133,946 |
| 2018 (January to June)[37] | 130,083 |
| 2018 (July to December)[38] | 123,095 |
| 2023 (March)[39] | 75,000 |