A new paper is to be launched next week with a budget of €7 million to challenge the dominance of the 102-year-old Clare Champion.
The Clare People will be an 80-page, full-colour tabloid with an initial print run of 20,000 copies.
Editor Gerry Collison said he was confident of success. "We've got our recruitment in place, and it's at that stage you see how things come together. That has absolutely convinced me that we're there."
The paper has attracted journalists from the Evening Herald, the Evening Echo, Newstalk 106 and the Clare Champion itself.
Collison worked at the Clare Champion for 25 years, including eight as editor, before leaving last year. He said it was slightly surreal to be taking on his former paper, which he described as one of the most successful regionals in the country.
The Clare People has a launch budget of €2 million, and a budget in the region of €1.7 million million for each of the next three years.
The two main investors are Domhnal Slattery, the chairman of Lombard Aviation Capital, and Seán Lyne, whose family have extensive hotel interests in Clare and Kerry.