Editor-in-chief appointed to oversee Irish 'Mail' titles

SEBASTIAN HAMILTON has been appointed editor-in-chief of the Irish Daily Mail and the Irish Mail on Sunday, Associated Newspapers (Ireland) has announced.

Mr Hamilton, who currently serves as the editor of the Irish Mail on Sunday, will oversee the running of both papers. He replaces Eric Bailey, who will step down in January after two years in the position.

Conor O’Donnell, the editor of the Irish Daily Mail, will move to become editor of the Irish Mail on Sunday. The position of Irish Daily Mail editor will cease, with Mr Hamilton taking responsibility for the title as part of his editor-in-chief duties.

Mr Hamilton joined the Irish operations of Associated Newspapers from the UK in 2006, six months after the paper was launched in Ireland. In the UK, he served as news editor of the Mail on Sunday. Before joining Associated Newspapers he worked at the Sunday Telegraph, Scotland on Sunday and the Sunday Times.

In 2011, Mr Hamilton and another Mail journalist were informed by Scotland Yard that they may have been the victims of phone hacking carried out by the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire on behalf of the News of the World.

Mr Hamilton was editor of the Irish Mail on Sunday in February 2011 when it published a “special edition” designed to look like a copy of the Sunday Tribune, days after the latter went into receivership. The incident was ruled a breach of consumer protection laws, with the judge describing the fake masthead as an “overzealous” marketing exercise.

Mr Bailey (58) will remain as consultant editor to the newspapers and as a non-executive director on the board of Associated Newspapers Ireland.

“I could not have wished for a better way to end my full-time career,” Mr Bailey said in a statement released by Associated Newspapers Ireland.

“I am delighted that I will still be involved in the success of our newspapers, and that we have been able to make promotions from inside the company.”

The Irish Daily Mail’s circulation has held up despite a declining morning newspaper market in recent years. It recorded a circulation of 50,780 in the first half of 2012, while the Irish Mail on Sunday enjoyed a circulation of 108,981 in that period, making it the third biggest Sunday paper in Ireland.

Associated Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd, which employs 161 people at its base in Ballsbridge, reported a €1.5 million pretax profit for the year to the beginning of October 2011, the most recent period for which accounts are available. The accounts show that it remains dependent on the support of its parent company, which is controlled by Viscount Rothermere.