THE IRISH TIMESembarks on the single biggest development programme in its editorial history this week to broaden its appeal to readers with more content and supplements - in advance of the newspaper's 150th anniversary in 2009.
This follows the announcement of the latest circulation figures where The Irish Timeshas achieved net daily sales of 119,051, the highest for many years. It is the only daily newspaper in the Audited Bureau of Circulation Island of Ireland report to show a rise in circulation compared to the same period in 2006.
Today, we publish Gallery, The Irish Timesimage magazine, featuring in pictures the main news stories of the week at home and abroad; the pictorial events of 10 and 20 years ago from the new Irish TimesArchive; social and personal pages; and the best pictures from our award-winning photographers. Gallery is edited by Pictures Editor Peter Thursfield.
Tomorrow, we will extend the Health Supplement into HEALTHplus which will include a new four-page parenting section and put a greater emphasis on personal health experiences and lifestyle issues as well as covering health as before. HEALTHplus, edited by Barry O'Keeffe, will be presented in a 20-page compact format.
On Wednesday, we will publish a new Sports supplement in broadsheet format with a particular emphasis on schools' sports for girls and boys. It will be edited by Sports Editor Malachy Logan.
Motors will change from an eight-page broadsheet to a 16-page compact, covering motoring news, reviews and developments. It will be edited by Motoring Editor Michael McAleer. The Commercial Property supplement will be published as normal.
Also on Wednesdays, Róisín Ingle will begin writing a new kind of report, called Being There, looking out instead of looking in, which will appear in the Features page of the main newspaper.
On Thursday, the Property supplement will continue as the leading source of information about the housing market and changing home styles.
On Friday, we will continue to publish Business This Week, the leading business section which mixes news, comment and technology.
We will also continue producing The Ticket, the essential guide to the arts and entertainment in Ireland.
On Saturday, we will have an even bigger newspaper than at present. There will be five sections in the Weekend edition: the newspaper, the Weekend Review, Weekend Sport, an expanded Magazine and a new travel supplement.
In the Magazine, Domini Kemp, the woman who brought bagels to Ireland, will present a new take on food for busy lives. She will join Hugo Arnold, who will keep an informed eye on trends in the Irish food chain. John Wilson, author of the Guide to the 100 Best Wines, becomes our new wine critic. He will present a range of the best wine buys each weekend, from under €10 upwards.
Go, our new 24-page travel supplement, will feature the best travel writers, the latest travel deals, city breaks, active holidays, home holidays and trips of a lifetime. It will be edited by Miriam Donohoe.
Saturday's newspaper will continue to host its well-known columnists, Stephen Collins, Miriam Lord and Fintan O'Toole among them, as well as reports and analyses from our foreign correspondents giving a unique Irish perspective on world events.
To add to the core of The Irish Times, we are introducing an extra Opinion page from Monday to Friday which will features new columnists, views, comment and analysis. To facilitate these changes, John Waters's column moves from Monday to Friday. Ann Marie Hourihane will now appear on Mondays.
The extra Opinion page requires the Arts and Features pages to move beyond the Letters page from today.
To present these developments in a refreshed, modern and reader-friendly manner, we commissioned the well-respected designer, Ally Palmer, from the Scottish-based consultancy Palmer Watson to re-design the newspaper.
He and his team were asked to do so without changing the essential character of The Irish Times as the quality broadsheet newspaper in Ireland. The front page and the news pages retain their authority and distinctiveness, there is no reduction in the word count and, of course, the Letters page retains its iconic status.
We will continue to give the serious reader the long read or the important script of 2,000 words whenever the occasion requires it. We will separate news from comment and allow our readers, as always, to read the raw facts, ignore our analysis if they wish, and make up their minds for themselves.
These changes are not the final word in our commitment to continuously develop the newspaper in line with its honourable history over the last 149 years. We are still working on ideas to develop our website, co-ordinate it more closely with the newspaper and make it more accessible to readers, young and old.
We hope you will like the changes you see from today and that you will let us know - as you always do - what you think of our efforts and what else we might do to make sure that this continues to be the best newspaper in Ireland.
Geraldine Kennedy, Editor