The editor of the News Letter, the Belfast unionist morning newspaper, has left his job after only a year.
Mr Nigel Wareing departed shortly after the purchase of the title by 3i, a venture capital concern, was completed on Friday. The new owners are Local Press Ltd. Mr David Montgomery, a former chief executive of the Mirror group, is involved in a consultancy basis.
In a short statement issued yesterday, the new chief executive, Ms Jean Long, thanked Mr Wareing for his work over the past 12 months and announced an immediate search for his successor. She said he was a well-respected colleague and a dedicated professional.
The new owners, she added, had "a dynamic vision" for the newspaper, which has a circulation of around 30,000 and is the oldest, continuously-published English-language newspaper in the world.
Ms Long said the objective was now to bring the News Letter to centre stage in the political, social and media life of Northern Ireland.
There have been indications this week that the newspaper is to change editorial policy and take a more strident unionist position.