Ireland's first Muslim paper hopes to help Irish and Islamic readers get to know each other better, its editors tell Barbara McCarthy

Ireland has enough Muslims to fill a town, but unlike other communities they have never had a newspaper. This month, thanks to a pair of journalists from Sudan and Chechnya, they are due to get one: the Friday Times, a free sheet edited by Tariq Elgezouli and Ruslan Mohammed Tsechoev.

Elgezouli, who is from Sudan, has lived in Ireland since 1989, having arrived from London, where he worked for the Muslim newspaper Al Arab. He found it hard to get work in an Irish newspaper, so he freelanced for the Reuters news agency, worked for the National Union of Journalists and did stints as a photographer.

Tsechoev has been in Ireland since he left war-torn Chechnya, three years ago, where he was a journalist for several Chechen newspapers.

With both men involved in the print media in their home countries, it was only a matter of time, they say, before they started their own newspaper.

The Friday Times - named for Islam's holy day - is due to be printed initially in English each fortnight, but by the new year they plan to publish weekly editions in Arabic and English.

"Essentially we want it to be a positive newspaper," says Elgezouli. "Our main aim is to help the Irish people to understand more about Muslims and, similarly, to inform the Muslim community about Ireland."

They are concerned, he says, not to insult or abuse any person or any organisation. "We are not radical, but we want people in the West to understand that not all Muslims share the same strong views."

Does this mean sensitive issues about Islam will be filtered out? "We will report on all Muslim news, be it good or bad," says Tsechoev. "We want people to read the truth, but obviously we also want to inform them about things happening around the world that are not necessarily printed in Irish papers."

Apart from world news it will have features on Irish history and culture, to generate interest in Irish life. Both men agree it is crucial for Muslims to learn about Ireland.

The paper will be funded purely by advertising. For this they have enlisted the help of Abdul Haseeb, a public-relations and marketing agent. "To pull in enough advertising the paper needs to be well known. It's imperative that as many people as possible are aware of it by the time it is launched, on September 19th. Once we have good readership figures we can look to increase our budget."

Haseeb says the idea has been met with support from Ireland's Muslim community, which has about 25,000 members.

It consists largely of people who have been moving here since the 1950s, from England and from Mediterranean countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Morocco.

There is also a large community of students at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, as well as asylum-seekers and refugees from Bosnia, Somalia, Chechnya, Nigeria and Afghanistan.

Haseeb has sought financial support mainly from solicitors, accountants, doctors, car dealers and the owners of halal shops. The newspaper will operate on a tight budget. "The response has been very positive. But we have to be aware that we will encounter problems along the way," says Haseeb, who is also working on a website, www.islamireland.com.

Initially they expect word of mouth to generate the biggest interest. Imam al-Hussein, head of the Muslim faith in Ireland, is enthusiastic about the idea of a dedicated Muslim publication. "The Irish media so far has been very fair to the Muslim community, but it is also a good idea to have a free newspaper for people interested in Muslim affairs."

Peter O'Mahony, head of the Refugee Council, says: "There is merit in having a voice, just like the Irish in America - ultimately the more integrated that voice is the better.

"The media have very limited understanding of minority groups in general - remember how Christian Ireland was only portrayed as bombs in Belfast."

This apparent lack of understanding is one of the reasons why Sulaiman Wilms founded Germany's Die Islamische Zeitung (The Islamic Newspaper) last year. The paper is printed three times a week and serves the German, Swiss and Austrian markets.

With more than four million Turks alone in Germany, this constitutes a huge market. It sells 10,000 issues at €2 each, but 10 times that number of readers accesses the paper's website each day for the latest news. A third of the readers are not Muslim, usually relations, friends or people working within the community.

"Politically the newspaper is independent. We want to build bridges and share good news. Fundamentalist views, support of suicide bombers and any other strong militant groups have no place in our newspaper," says Wilms.

"Sometimes it is hard to print positive things about Muslims, especially with regard to Palestine, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. People have negative images engrained in their minds. I am aware that it is difficult to block these out."

Wilms has expressed an interest in working with Elgezouli and Tsechoev to give their newspaper a more global edge.

For now Elgezouli and Tsechoev are seeking support from both the Government and non-governmental organisations. They also hope to attract young writers who are keen to have their work published.

"As long as they comply with the NUJ code of conduct," Tsechoev says, "anyone can submit their work. Subject matter is irrelevant. We have limited funds, but we will pay contributors."

• The first Friday Times is due to appear on September 19th. It will be available in halal shops, language schools, citizen information centres, libraries and mosques. It will be an independent publication unrelated to the Friday Times of Pakistan