Irish Press directors look to relaunch two titles next year

THE Sunday Press may be relaunched next year, followed by the Evening Press, the directors of the titles parent company said last night.

Irish Press plc announced that it had spent the past few months "attempting to secure the earliest possible availability" of modern printing facilities.

In a statement issued last night, the company said it had been seeking investors for a relaunch of the Press titles. "The company is confident that the current discussions will lead to the provision of a high class printing facility of producing the Irish Press titles through Irish Press Publications.

"If discussions lead to formal agreement, it would be envisaged that the Sunday Press would be launched in the first half of 1997, with a further publication following almost immediately," the statement continued.

The statement - albeit a preliminary one according to the company - gave no details about financing the venture, investors, or printing arrangements.

The newspaper's titles are held in a separate company, Irish Press Publications (IPP), of which Independent Newspapers owns 24.9 per cent. A spokeswoman for Irish Press plc confirmed last night that Independent Newspapers would be involved, but that there would also be a third "major" investor.

A spokesman for Independent Newspapers said the company had no comment to make.

The involvement of Independent Newspapers could raise problems. The Competition Authority has already ruled that Independent had abused a dominant position by taking a 24.9 per cent stake in Irish Press Newspapers (IPN), the group's operating company, and IPP. Independent paid £2 million for its shareholdings.

The authority said Independent should be forced to divest the stake and recommended that the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, should take action. However, Mr Bruton refused to act.

In any event, IPN went into liquidation several months later, with debts of £20 million and the loss of more than 600 jobs. A spokesman for Mr Bruton said last night that any relaunch would shave to comply with competition law and pointed out that the statement was a preliminary one.

Last night's statement said it became clear in February that it would not be possible to arrange the printing of one or more of the newspapers from Burgh Quay. This is understood to be a reference to the fact that in February decided not to provide further financial support for a relaunch.

The statement also said it was likely that the second publication would be the Evening Press, but no final decision on this had been taken. It added that "substantial employment will be provided".

Irish Press will face an uphill battle even if it does get a new ideal together. The titles have been off the streets for over a year already and will have been off the market for nearly two years.

In the meantime, its competitors have made substantial gains, a new evening newspaper has been launched and another Sunday newspaper, focusing mainly on sport, will be published shortly.