The 181-year-old Northern Ireland weekly The Impartial Reporter has
been bought by Ulster News Group – a wholly owned subsiduary of the
Dunfermline Press Ltd.
The weekly has been owned and run by the
William Trimble family since it was founded in 1825. The sale price has
not been disclosed.
William Trimble Ltd managing director, Joanna
McVey, who will be chairman under the new set-up, said it was a
positive move for the award-winning local newspaper. "This is a new and
exciting chapter in the history of one of Ireland¹s most respected
weekly newspapers. The acquisition by Ulster News Group will bring many
positive benefits to our long-established title and its monthly sister
paper, the Lakeland Extra.
"As we face the challenges of a
rapidly changing media marketplace, this is an opportunity to take
advantage of the extensive experience and expertise of a group which
has a broad range of local newspaper interests in Ireland and Great
Britain.
"At local level there will be little if no visible
change. The Trimble family connection will not be lost as I will remain
as chairman of William Trimble Ltd, whilst Denzil McDaniel, the
newspaper's managing editor will continue to make a valuable
contribution at board level as a director of the company." Ulster News
Group is owned by Dunfermline Press Limited, one of the largest
independently owned UK newspaper groups and a sister organisation to
Celtic Media Group which owns a number of newspaper titles in the
Republic of Ireland, including the Cavan based Anglo Celt and the Meath
Chronicle in Navan.
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