Irish daily papers attracting more readers - survey

The number of people reading Irish daily newspapers increased by 29,000 in the 12 months to last June, and more people are also reading Sunday newspapers, according to a survey carried out for the National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI). The survey shows that some 1,672,000 people read an Irish daily newspaper.

The figures are contained in the Joint National Readership Research (JNRR), which was conducted by Lansdowne Market Research on behalf of the NNI, the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland, the Association of Advertisers in Ireland and various magazines and cinema interests. It is based on 5,084 interviews conducted over 12 months between July 1999 and June 2000. The survey does not include figures for Irish editions of British newspapers.

The survey shows that 283,000 Irish adults read The Irish Times every day, a decrease of 20,000 readers, or 6.6 per cent, in the year to last June. The survey, which includes an age and socio-economic profile of readers, shows that 45 per cent of Irish Times readers are in the affluent AB bracket - readership of The Irish Times among this group was up by 12 per cent. There were also increases in Irish Times readership among the younger age groups, with an increase of 13 per cent among those aged between 15 and 19.

The Irish Independent increased its readership by 6.3 per cent to 642,000 readers over the period. The survey shows that 15 per cent of its readers are in the AB group, an increase of 15 per cent in that category. In the 15-19 age group, there was a drop in readership of nearly 2 per cent.

The revamped Irish Examiner lost 22,000 readers or 8.9 per cent, with the greatest decline being a 28 per cent drop in Dublin. The Star put on readers and is now read by 432,000 Irish adults, an increase of 3.6 per cent on last year.

Just over two million people read an Irish Sunday newspaper, up 76,000 or 3.8 per cent. Of the five Irish Sundays in the survey, four showed increases.

The Sunday Independent is the only one to show a fall in readership, losing 50,000 readers during the year. However, the paper remains Ireland's most popular Sunday, with 1,053,000 readers. The survey brings the Sunday World into the million reader category. It increased its readers by 40,000 and is now read by 1,015,000 Irish adults.

Of the other Sundays, the Sun- day Business Post showed the largest increase. It added 31,000 readers in the year, an increase of over 26 per cent. The paper is now read by 147,000 people. The next highest increase was by Ire- land on Sunday, which is up by 15 per cent to 193,000, followed by the Sunday Tribune, up 7 per cent to 261,000.

Overall readership levels for evening newspapers increased by 21,000, reversing the trend of recent years. The Evening Herald is now read by 354,000 adults, an increase of 6.6 per cent. Readership figures for the Evening Echo in Cork were largely unchanged at 70,000.