Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [29]
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The dominant local player is Independent News & Media, owned by Ireland’s primo businessman, Tony O’Reilly, although his title is under threat by the other media supremo, Denis O’Brien (see Radio, Click here). Its newspapers – the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent and Evening Herald – are by far the biggest sellers in each market.
The massive overspill of British media here, particularly in relation to the saturated Sunday market, is the biggest challenge facing the Irish media. Rupert Murdoch’s News International recognised the importance of the Irish market early, established an office in Dublin and set about an assault of the newspaper racks with its main titles, the Irish Sun, News of the World and Sunday Times. Every UK tabloid paper now has an Irish edition, leading to accusations by media speculators that Irish culture is being coarsened by the widespread availability of even more tasteless tabloid tat. The traditions of the UK tabloids, which have built circulation on the back of celebrity buy-ups and salacious stories about sex and crime, have inevitably been exported and are beginning to influence the editorial position of the Irish titles, particularly on Sunday.
What this means, of course, is that local papers lacking Murdoch’s mammoth resources will struggle even more than they already do; the country’s best newspaper, the Irish Times, is constantly worried about circulation. All of this goes a way towards explaining how all the English newspapers cost less than a euro while the three Irish national dailies all cost €1.80.
In the north, the three main papers are the Belfast Telegraph, with the highest circulation, followed by the pro-Unionist Newsletter – Europe’s oldest surviving newspaper having begun publication in 1737 – and the equally popular pro-Nationalist Irish News.
TV
Irish TV is small fry, it always has been. It lacks the funding and the audience available to behemoths like the BBC. But – and this is a huge but – compared to that of most other European countries it is actually quite good. However, the national broadcaster, RTE, gets its fair share of abuse for being narrow-minded, conservative, boring, short-sighted and way behind the times – and that’s just for turning down the chance to produce the enormously successful comedy-drama series Father Ted (a gentle and hilarious poke at conservative Ireland, which was then commissioned by Britain’s Channel 4).
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TOP PICKS – BLOGS
Some of the finest and most fearless – not to mention funniest – reporting is done by bloggers, the best of which will reveal what is really going on in the country:
Blurred Keys (www.blurredkeys.com) A superb blog that focuses on the media and how it covers current affairs – a watchdog for the watchdogs.
Half-Arsed Blog (www.ricksbreakfastblog.blogspot.com) Radio presenter Rick O’Shea on whatever irks/pleases/interests Rick and his audience on any particular day.
Irish Election (www.irishelection.com) The best political blog, featuring comprehensive analysis of all the major issues.
Sinead Gleeson (www.sineadgleeson.com) An excellent cultural blog.
Twenty Major (www.twentymajor.net) An award-winning blog regularly considered the best in the country for its in-your-face, hilarious commentary.
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There are four terrestrial TV channels in Ireland. RTE’s strengths are its widespread sports coverage and news and current affairs programming – it’s thorough, insightful and often hard-hitting. Programs like Today Tonight and Prime Time are as good as, or better than, as anything you’ll see elsewhere in the world; the reporting treats the audience like mature responsible adults who don’t need issues dumbed down or simplified. But let’s not forget the Angelus, Ireland’s very own call to prayer: 18 sombre hits of a church bell heard at 6pm on RTE1 (and at noon on radio). Undoubtedly out of step with a fast-paced and secular society, it is a daily reminder of the state-encouraged piety of