IN&M seeking 20 voluntary redundancies from news titles

Independent News and Media is seeking 20 further voluntary redundancies from its print editorial staff in Talbot Street in Dublin, but intends to hire an additional seven employees to develop its web operations.

Management of the company also confirmed to officers from the National Union of Journalists yesterday its intention to appoint an editor-in-chief who will have oversight of the Irish Independent , the Sunday Independent and the Evening Herald .

INM management, represented by Declan Carlyle and Michael Denieffe, denied that it was the company's intention to merge the newsdesks of the three titles, telling NUJ officials that they will remain separate entities, but with some pooling of production resources between the Irish Independent and the Herald .

The editor-in-chief, once appointed, will have responsibility for all three titles and their websites, as well as tablet and smartphone apps in development.

Trade union concerns
The NUJ believes the power of the editor-in-chief to instruct all editors about which stories their titles should or should not cover could have serious consequences for the editorial independence and individual identities of the titles.

INM non-executive director Lucy Gaffney recently suggested that media companies would start "thinking the unthinkable, which is merging newsrooms".

Meanwhile, senior executives at INM will this week meet with banks to discuss its pension scheme, which is set to be restructured.

Some 10 people have left Talbot Street over the last few months, leaving the company with a target of 19-20 new voluntary redundancies, which are expected to come mostly from the print production staff.

The company told union officials that they envisaged having to turn down some of the applications for redundancy and that the process is expected to be finalised by mid-June.

The redundancy payment terms will be three weeks’ pay plus the statutory two weeks’ pay for each year of service, capped at two years’ salary.

Union officials had asked the company to provide clarity on recent comments by INM chief executive Vincent Crowley that about 100 redundancies in total will be sought from its Irish operations.

INM managers confirmed that the Sunday Independent will be moved to the third floor of Independent House, alongside the operations of the Irish Independent and the Evening Herald , and said this was necessary because of the decision to move the Irish Daily Star into Talbot Street. Another INM title, the Sunday World , is also based in the building.

Paywall plans
A "leaky" paywall – where a certain number of articles will be available free before a charge is incurred – will be implemented for Independent.ie in the third quarter of the year, with individually branded paid-for apps for tablets and smartphones launched for each of the three titles, INM managers said.

Irish Independent editor Stephen Rae said last month that the news company would introduce a metered paywall on the website "quite soon".