The Irish Timeswas the only daily newspaper in the Republic to increase its sales in the first six months of this year, according to circulation figures published yesterday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC). Ciarán Hancock, Business Affairs Correspondent, reports.
The Irish Timesachieved an average daily circulation of 118,150 between January and June this year. This was an increase of 353 copies a day, or 0.3 per cent, when compared with the same period in 2006, and is the highest circulation recorded by The Irish Times since the same six-month period in 2002.
The number of actively-purchased copies of the newspaper was 112,248, with bulk sales contributing 5,902 to the circulation.
The average daily circulation of the Irish Independentwas 160,818 in the January to June period, down from 162,582 a year earlier. This represented a decline of 1,764 copies a day, or 1.1 per cent.
The ABC figures reveal that 88.1 per cent or 141,754 copies of the Irish Independentwere actively purchased each day. Its bulk sales amounted to 19,064.
ABC's data also shows that the compact edition of the Irish Independent accounted for 94,136 of its circulation, while the broadsheet edition achieved a figure of 66,682.
This represented a 59 per cent/41 per cent split in favour of the tabloid version of the paper.
The core sales of the Irish Independent, or those actively purchased, have been steadily declining since the January to June period of 2002, when it stood at 167,374.
The Irish Examinernewspaper saw its circulation fall to 55,860 a day between January and June, down from 57,217 a year earlier.
This represented a year-on-year decline of 2.4 per cent. Bulk sales amounted to 1,193 copies a day.
The Sunday Tribune, which is controlled by Independent News & Media (IN&M), was the only Sunday title to record a decline in its circulation - to 70,192 from 72,184. This represented a year-on-year fall of 2.8 per cent.
The biggest increase was recorded by the Sunday World, a title owned by IN&M. Its circulation for the six-month period was 282,766, a rise of 4,371 issues a week.
The circulation of the Sunday Business Postrose by 646 copies a week to 56,522, while the Sunday Independentincreased its sales to 287,942 from 287,588. Bulk sales of the Sunday Independentamounted to 18,910.
Both of the evening newspapers in the Republic showed declines in their sales. The Monday to Friday edition of the Evening Heraldsaw its circulation fall to 82,854 from 87,645, a year-on-year decline of 5.5 per cent.
The paper's Saturday newspaper achieved a circulation of 48,050, down 4.6 per cent from the 50,379 recorded in the January to June period of 2006.
The Evening Echoin Cork, which in common with the Irish Examinerand the Sunday Business Postis owned by Thomas Crosbie Holdings, had a circulation of 26,814 in the first six months of this year, down 1 per cent from 27,085 in the same period last year.
The figures are published in ABC's Island of Ireland report, which lists publications north and south of the Border. It does not include the Irish sales of British newspapers.
Associated Newspapers said yesterday that weekly sales of the Mail on Sundayin the January to June period were 122,845, down from 125,254 copies a week in the same period of 2006, when it was known as Ireland on Sundayand was included in the Island of Ireland statistics.
