New current affairs magazine to be launched by Vincent Browne

The broadcaster, journalist and Irish Times columnist, Vincent Browne, is to launch a new weekly current and international affairs…

The broadcaster, journalist and Irish Times columnist, Vincent Browne, is to launch a new weekly current and international affairs magazine later this year.

Called Village, the magazine will be published every Saturday morning from October 2nd, and will be edited and financed by Browne, who has been involved in various publishing ventures in Ireland since the 1970s, including Magill magazine and the Sunday Tribune.

Browne is aiming for an initial circulation of 20,000, with a print-run of 30,000.

He was "more nervous than excited" about the project. "It's a significant undertaking. There's a lot of work in it," he said

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Browne is financing the publication, which will cost €50,000 per week to run, through a combination of borrowings and his own cash.

Coverage of Irish current affairs will form a major component of Village but, unlike Magill, it will also have a strong emphasis on international affairs. There will also be an arts and books section in the magazine, which will be tabloid in size and printed on high quality newsprint.

Browne believed the magazine would be a complementary purchase by existing newspaper readers.

"Between them, the Irish Times and Irish Independent sell in the region of 300,000 copies on a Saturday. We're hoping that one in 15 of them will also purchase Village."

Although there has been number of high profile publication failures in recent years, including Dublin Daily and Stars on Sunday, Browne said he was confident the publication would survive the start-up period.

"We've done a lot of work on it," he said.

This is the third major publishing venture for Browne, who founded Magill magazine in the late 1970s, re-launched it in 1997 after a hiatus of nearly 10 years, and sold it the following year to publisher Mike Hogan.

Browne was also behind the re-launch of the Sunday Tribune in 1983, and he edited the newspaper until 1994.

Staff on the new venture will include Sara Burke, currently a development officer with the Institute of Public Health, who is to become managing editor of the new magazine, and former Irish Times journalist Suzanne Breen.