The website of The Irish Times, ireland.com, is the most popular Irish newspaper on the Internet, according to the first major survey focussing on the online sector.
More than 115,000 readers access ireland.com regularly from Ireland, according to the Joint National Internet Research (JNIR) survey. Some 70 per cent belong to the high-income ABC1 category.
The JNIR survey, which does not take into account the large international readership of ireland.com, measures the total Irish Internet audience and the reach of Irish-based websites.
It is supported by the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI) and the Association of Advertisers in Ireland (AAI).
The survey shows that ireland.com's audience is maturing as the Internet becomes a more established element of Irish life. Some 44 per cent of users are aged between 25 and 34 years of age, and another 24 per cent fall into the 35-44 age bracket.
Subscription charges for access to premium content were introduced by ireland.com over a year ago.
The Irish Times was the first newspaper in Britain or Ireland to take to the Web in 1994.
The editor of ireland.com, Ms Deirdre Veldon, described the findings of the survey as "very encouraging", saying they pointed towards the successful transition of ireland.com to a subscription-based product.
The general manager of ireland.com, Ms Una O'Hare, said the survey would prove beneficial for advertisers. "This will hopefully lead to more advertisers realising the value of online products and allocating more of their budgets to the online market."