The special edition of Charlie Hebdo magazine commemorating victims of the January 7th shootings in Paris has gone on sale in Ireland following a delay of almost two weeks.
Shoppers on Dublin's northside flocked to the O'Connell Street news kiosk on Tuesday morning to pick up copies which arrived earlier in the day.
The so-called “survivors’ edition” of the satirical magazine is selling for €4.95, as opposed to the French recommended retail price of €3.
The magazine's circulation was initially boosted from the usual run of 60,000 copies to three million for the commemorative edition, which features a weeping prophet Muhammad on the cover saying "Tout est pardonné" - or all is forgiven.
Repeated delays
Despite subsequent increases in the print run to five million and then seven million in order to cope with demand in France, Irish retailers faced repeated delays in receiving an allocation of 1,500 copies.
It's 25 per cent less than the 2,000 copies that were expected to be imported by EM News Distribution, the sole suppliers of Charlie Hebdo in Ireland, two days after the initial release in France on January 14th.
The company said no complaints were received about the reduced allocation, dispatched to shops in locations including Dublin, Thurles, Killarney and Galway.
The O’Connell Street kiosk received less than half the copies ordered, according to its operator Chris MacCormac.
“We requested a couple of hundred, and we got probably half of what we requested,” he said. “There was a lot of people asking for it, but it’s quietened down over the last few days so we just thought we’d let people know that it’s out there.”
On holiday
Having failed to get a copy in France where he's currently living, John Walgamuth managed to pick up a copy while on holiday in Ireland.
“I didn’t buy one in France because they sold out pretty quickly,” said Mr Walgamuth, a Chicago native.
“I’m not actually a big fan of Charlie Hebdo in terms of the publication and the images....I don’t support the images, they’re kind of racist and awful, but even so they have a right to publish, I have a right to ignore it, so I can see both sides.”
Tipperary native Jacqueline Hogan, who was with her two children, said her heartfelt gratitude for the 12 victims of the massacre at the magazine's Paris headquarters compelled her to purchase a copy.
“I’m just appalled at what happened in Paris, and did it in sympathy with them,” she said.
“We all watched the news, [the children] never knew who Charlie Hebdo was before the news. They saw what went on in Paris, we don’t hide that from them. It’s important for them to know exactly what goes on in the world.”
Nottingham resident Craig Dicken said he had been frantically searching for the magazine in shops and online in recent weeks, and was delighted to have finally found one.
“I plan to frame it and put it up on the wall, so I can look at it and remember what happened, to stand up for the ideals of the people involved,” he said.
