THE Mid/and Tribune is owed £644,766 by the company which published the Evening News, the Dublin based newspaper which ceased publication over three months ago.

A creditors' meeting was held in Dublin yesterday and a liquidator, Mr Martin Ferris, of Ferris and Associates, was appointed to the enterprise.

Denmount Corporation Ltd, which published the Evening News, has unsecured creditors totalling £1,009,211.

The trade creditors total £949,862, contractors are owed £46,749, and contributors are owed £12,599.

The preferential creditors are the Revenue Commissioners who are owed £88,073, and employees, who are owed £75,979. The company has realisable assets of £143,266.

The Mid/and Tribune had an arrangement to supply the Evening News with newsprint, for which it was paid six months later. It had also invested £200,000 in Denmount.

Mr Arnold Fanning, managing director of the Mid/and Tribune, was not available for comment. The Birr based newspaper company was the main backer behind the Evening News.

Apart from the Mid/and Tribune, the biggest unsecured creditor was the Peter Owens advertising agency, which carried out TV promotional work and some design consultancy for the newspaper. The company is owed £93,000.

Other creditors are stationary Management, who are owed £48,856, and Desktop Systems, who are owed £37,242. Mr Liam Eyre, one of the directors of Denmount, is owed £24,276.

The creditors meeting was given management's view of why the newspaper had not been successful.

There were problems initially with printing, the computer system and the distribution of the newspaper. The revenue from advertising was poor.

Circulation at one stage was on target at around 30,000 but had dropped by at least two thirds by the end of August.

The newspaper was an attempt to fill the slot left vacant by the demise of the Evening Press.