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Ireland on Sunday was a Sunday newspaper in the Republic of Ireland, published by Associated Newspapers Ireland Limited, a subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc. The newspaper had a number of formats, but in its later years was tabloid in page size; however, it was not a 'red top' tabloid, but considered 'middle-market'.
[edit] History
The newspaper was considered to be the Irish edition of the Mail on Sunday. However, this was not always the case. The newspaper was originally founded in 1996, by former County Meath Gaelic football player Liam Hayes, as a sports-only newspaper, The Title. In 1997, it was expanded into a general broadsheet Sunday newspaper, under the name Ireland On Sunday, with Hayes as its editor. In 2000, the newspaper was sold to Scottish Radio Holdings; a year later, having switched to tabloid format, it was sold to Daily Mail and General Trust. Since then, it had been relaunched again, with a format similar to the Mail on Sunday.
The newspaper had come under much criticism recently with its constant giveaways of CDs and books with the newspaper, in order to attract readers. However other Irish Sunday newspapers also offer free CDs from time to time, in the case of Ireland on Sunday the giveaways are regular rather than occasional, as in other publications. In addition, its usage of content from the Mail on Sunday has led to it being given the nickname "Little England on Sunday" in certain parts of the Irish media.
[edit] Closure/Rebrand
On 21 September 2006, Associated Newspapers announced that the 17 September 2006 edition of Ireland on Sunday had been the newspaper's final edition, with its replacement with the Irish Mail on Sunday from 24 September. The newspaper had already been considered informally as the Mail on Sunday's Irish edition, however it will be officially an edition of the Mail on Sunday and use a variation of that newspaper's masthead and editorial style. The UK edition of the Mail on Sunday will be withdrawn from the Irish market in line with this.
