Type	Sunday newspaper
Format	broadsheet
Owner(s)	Independent News and Media
Founded	1906.
Political position	originally Catholic Nationalist, then pro-Fine Gael, now right wing populist
Headquarters	Talbot Street, Dublin
Editor	Aengus Fanning
Website	www.unison.ie/sunday_independent

The Sunday Independent is a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published in the Republic of Ireland by Independent News and Media plc. The newspaper is edited by Aengus Fanning, and is the biggest selling Irish Sunday newspaper by a large margin (33.4% of Irish Sunday newspaper readers, according to the Joint National Readership Survey;^[1] average circulation of 291,323 between June 2004 and January 2005, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations^[2]. It is now owned by businessman Anthony O'Reilly, and is part of a worldwide newspaper group that includes The Independent in the United Kingdom. It is widely regarded as the most low brow mainstream Irish media publication. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 373 × 598 pixels Full resolution (978 × 1569 pixel, file size: 910 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Front page of the Sunday Independent. ... Newspaper sizes in August 2005. ... Independent News & Media (INM) is a media organisation based in Dublin, Ireland with interests worldwide. ... Fine Gael (IPA: , though often anglicised to ) (approximate English translation: Family or Tribe of the Irish) and officially, Fine Gael - The United Ireland Party, is the second largest political party in the Republic of Ireland, presently forming the largest opposition party in the Dail (Irish Parliament), and claims a membership... Populism is a political ideology or rhetorical style that holds that the common person is oppressed by the elite in society, which exists only to serve its own interests, and therefore, the instruments of the State need to be grasped from this self-serving elite and instead used for the... Talbot Street (Sráid Thalbóid in Irish) is a city-centre street located on Dublins Northside and is one of the principal shopping streets of Dublin, running from Connolly station and the IFSC at Amiens Street in the east to Marlborough Street in the west. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... Aengus Fanning is an Irish journalist and former Farming editor of the Irish Independent who is the current longterm editor of the Sunday Independent. ... Newspaper sizes in August 2005. ... Independent News & Media (INM) is a media organisation based in Dublin, Ireland with interests worldwide. ... Aengus Fanning is an Irish journalist and former Farming editor of the Irish Independent who is the current longterm editor of the Sunday Independent. ... A newspapers circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day. ... Sir Anthony Tony OReilly KBE (born 7 May 1936) is an Irish businessman and one of the richest men in Ireland. ... For other uses, see The Independent (disambiguation). ...

Content

The newspaper is a general Sunday newspaper, covering news and politics. It is published in five sections: News, Sport, Business, Property, and Living, as well as a magazine section. In terms of news, the newspaper maintains a broadsheet outlook, however it has come into much criticism lately for its increasing introduction of lifestyle features into the main section, as well as tending towards sensationalism occasionally. It is perhaps better described as a middle-of-the-road newspaper, rather than a newspaper of record. A newspaper of record is a colloquial term that generally refers to a newspaper that meets at least one of two criteria: high standards of journalism, the articles of which establish a definitive record of current events, for use by future scholars, and/or compliance with the legal requirements necessary...

The paper is strongly opposed to the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin, and most issues carry at least one article criticizing these groups. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) is a paramilitary group which aimed, through the use of violence, to achieve three goals: (i) British withdrawal from Ireland, (ii) the political unification of Ireland through the merger of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , and (iii) the creation of an all... For pre-Arthur Griffith use of the political name, see Sinn Féin (19th century). ...

The paper is popularly nicknamed The Sindo.

Front Page

The front page featured is not the typical format as usually the paper runs with a "bottomer", a satirical analysis of the issues of the day. The main splash story "Slim majority trusts Ahern on Sinn Féin" written by Willie Kealy. The Off-lead "No to Keane as manager" was written by Shane Hickey, Donal Lynch and Ralph Riegel, the paper's Southern Correspondent. The bottom piece about Ireland's oldest university Trinity College Dublin selling Masters Degrees to its graduates was written by Daniel McConnell. The edition's date is Nov 20, 2005. The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin or more commonly Trinity College, Dublin (TCD) was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, is the only constituent college of the University of Dublin, Irelands oldest university. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

Controversies

The newspaper has been the source of many controversies over the years:

The Keane Edge

The Keane Edge was a gossip column written by Terry Keane, a fashion journalist and estranged wife of former Chief Justice of Ireland, Ronan Keane. It was frequently the subject of successful libel actions by persons angered by accusations therein. In it there were often hints of a relationship with a prominent political figure, named in the column as Sweetie. In 1999, it was revealed by Keane on the RTÉ One programme, The Late Late Show, that the figure had been the former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey. Keane gave the story as an exclusive to rival newspaper The Sunday Times, while still employed by Independent News and Media. She abruptly left the newspaper (amid much recriminations) and her column continued as Not The Keane Edge, soon renamed The Double Edge. The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth- or other countries with an Anglosaxon type of justice, such as the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Supreme Court of New Zealand, the Supreme... RTÉ One is the Republic of Irelands oldest and most popular television channel, operated by Irish state broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Taoiseach (IPA: or ) — plural: Taoisigh ( or ), also referred to as An Taoiseach[1], is the head of government of Ireland or prime minister. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper distributed in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International which is in turn owned by News Corporation. ... Independent News & Media (INM) is a media organisation based in Dublin, Ireland with interests worldwide. ...

Mary Ellen Synon controversy

Mary Ellen Synon, a columnist with the newspaper, caused much controversy when she attacked the Paralympic Games as being "perverse", in an article of 22 October 2000. This became the subject of much public debate and lead to the columnist being criticised in the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament). Initially, the editor, Aengus Fanning, defended the columnist, however he eventually issued an apology, after the then health boards threatened to withdraw advertising from the newspaper. Synon has not written for the newspaper since, although it was denied that she had been dismissed from the newspaper. Mary Ellen Synon (born 1951) is an Irish-American journalist, currently writing for the Ireland on Sunday and the Irish Daily Mail. ... Silver 2004 The Paralympic Games are an elite multi-sport event for athletes with a disability. ... October 22 is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 70 days remaining. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Oireachtas is the National Parliament of the Republic of Ireland1. ... Aengus Fanning is an Irish journalist and former Farming editor of the Irish Independent who is the current longterm editor of the Sunday Independent. ... The Eleven Kingdoms is a term used in Ireland by journalists, politicians and others who dislike the current state of Irelands healthcare system. ...

The 03 team

The 03 (later 04) team were a group of young female journalists who appeared in the Sunday Independent during 2003 and early 2004. The articles, originally appearing in the Living supplement but soon promoted to the main section, comprised the various members of the team writing short articles on a common subject. However they were usually accompanied by a large colour group photo of the team posing scantily clad and very occasionally topless. Eventually the feature was dropped [1], but not before the team had made a television appearance on the RTÉ One show Open House. They occasionally featured as a fantasy figure for fictional Sunday Tribune character Ross O'Carroll-Kelly. RTÉ One is the Republic of Irelands oldest and most popular television channel, operated by Irish state broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann. ... Open House is a real estate musical film starring Anthony Rapp, Sally Kellerman and Kellie Martin, and directed by Dan Mirvish, a co-founder of the Slamdance Film Festival. ... Sunday Tribune is an Irish Sunday newspaper humourously referred to as The Turbine, especially in the magazine The Phoenix. ... Ross OCarroll-Kelly is a fictional character (read Rugby stor) created by Irish journalist Paul Howard. ...

Death of Liam Lawlor

On 22 October 2005, the controversial Irish politician Liam Lawlor was killed in a road traffic accident in the Khimki district of Moscow during the early hours of Saturday morning. His driver was also killed in the accident, and a female passenger in the back seat of the car was slightly injured. The Sunday Independent edition of 23 October published a story on its front page, written by Ciarán Byrne, Jody Corcoran and Nick Paton Walsh, claiming that Lawlor's car had been travelling "from a red-light district" of Moscow and that police had claimed that the female passenger was a teenage girl who police claimed was "likely to be a prostitute". Reports later during Sunday revealed that the female passenger was actually a 32-year-old Ukrainian national who worked in Prague as a legal secretary and interpreter and who had worked in that role for Lawlor before during previous business trips to Russia^[3]. As the furore over the accuracy of the article continued on the Sunday, the article disappeared from the front page of the newspaper's website (although it could still be accessed by specifying its URL), and the PDF copy of the front page of the newspaper (usually available on the website) was also taken down. October 22 is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 70 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Liam Lawlor Liam Aloysius Lawlor (October 19, 1944–October 22, 2005) was a former Irish politician who resigned from the Fianna Fáil political party in a scandal involving corruption in the planning process. ... Khimki (Химки in Russian) is a city in the Moscow Oblast in Russia. ... Position of Moscow in Europe Coordinates: Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Government  - Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Area  - City 1,081 km²  (417. ... October 23 is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The De Wallen red-light district in Amsterdam A red-light district is a neighborhoooood where prostitution and other businesses in the sex industry flourish. ... Nickname: Motto: Praga Caput Rei publicae Location within the Czech Republic Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region Capital City of Prague Founded 9th century Government  - Mayor Pavel Bém Area  - City 496 km²  (191. ... A Uniform Resource Locator, URL (spelled out as an acronym, not pronounced as earl), or Web address, is a standardized address name layout for resources (such as documents or images) on the Internet (or elsewhere). ... PDF is an abbreviation with several meanings: Portable Document Format Post-doctoral fellowship Probability density function There also is an electronic design automation company named PDF Solutions. ...

On Monday 24 October, the managing director of Independent Newspapers, Michael Denieffe, admitted in an interview on RTÉ Radio 1's lunchtime news programme, News at One, that the report had been "inaccurate" and apologised to the Lawlor family for the distress caused. The original article had by this point disappeared from the website entirely, and the PDF copy of the front page had reappeared on the website with the offending article blanked out.^[4]Later that afternoon, the editor of the Sunday Independent, Aengus Fanning, also apologised to the Lawlor family and said that he "took full responsibility" for the inaccurate report.^[5] There had been considerable outrage about the report during the day, with calls being made on phone-in radio programmes for a boycott of the newspaper unless the editor and others responsible for the report resigned or were sacked, and it remains to be seen whether the apology will be enough to assuage this outrage. October 24 is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 68 days remaining. ... RTÉ Radio 1 dates back to January 1st 1926, when the Dublin radio station 2RN began broadcasting on a regular basis. ... The ITV Lunchtime News is ITV1s afternoon news programme, which is broadcast weekdays from 1. ... Look up Boycott in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Circulation & Readership of
Circulation	291,036
Readership	1,056,000 (32.4% of market)
Dates	2004/2005
Source	National Newspapers of Ireland

On Tuesday 25 October, The Observer, whose Moscow correspondent Nick Paton Walsh had been one of those bylined in the original story, issued a statement acknowledging that there had been "serious discrepancies" in the article it had published (also claiming that the woman concerned was a prostitute), apologised for the distress caused, and removed the article from its website. In addition, Paton Walsh stated that he had had "no hand" in the drafting of the Sunday Independent article. Paton Walsh said that "an editor" in the Sunday Independent had contacted him on the Saturday seeking help to confirm reports that Mr Lawlor had died. Paton Walsh said that he had spoken with an official police spokesperson and relayed only the contents of three conversations with this same person to their newsdesk, saying that he had stressed that it was "only a possibility the girl was a prostitute".^[6]. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

It was reported on Wednesday 26 October that the interpreter, Julia Kushnir, was seeking apologies from those newspapers who had published erroneous reports that she was a prostitute, and that she was likely to sue for damages if the newspapers did not comply. October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 66 days remaining. ...

The controversy has sparked a debate over press standards in Ireland, with the Labour Party Senator Kathleen O'Meara calling for the establishment of a Press Council to monitor standards in the print media^[7]. The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, has stated that the print media coverage of Mr Lawlor's death was "grossly offensive, cruel and lacking in foundation and fact", and that defamation was not enough to deal with this kind of posthumous coverage. He said that legislation was being drafted to establish an appropriate press complaints council.^[8] Logo of the Irish Labour Party The Irish Labour Party (Irish: Páirti an Lucht Oibre) is the third largest political party in the Republic of Ireland. ... Kathleen OMeara is an Irish politician and member of the 22nd Seanad Éireann for the Labour Party. ... Michael McDowell (Irish: ;[1] born May, 1951) is a former Irish politician who led the Progressive Democrats political party from 11 September 2006 until 25 May 2007. ...

On June 10, 2006, the Irish Times reported that Kushnir is to sue the Observer, the Sunday Independent, the Sunday Tribune, the Sunday World, the Irish Sunday Mirror, and the Irish Independent over the erroneous claim that she was a prostitute.^[9] June 10 is the 161st day of the year (162nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Callous Report of Death of Female Garda

The Sunday Independent sparked another furore in March 2007 when the newspaper featured a front page report of the death in childbirth of Garda Sergeant Tania Corcoran (34) [2]. A headline noted that Sgt Corcoran was the wife of the ERU Garda who had fired a fatal shot in the Abbeylara siege, incensing friends and relatives of the couple [3].

Dublin Lifestyle vs. Rural Ireland

The paper has also been strongly criticised for it's focusing on Dublin based issues, despite proclaiming to be a newspaper that all of Ireland can read. It has also been accused of shunting stories in other counties. Examples include the outbreak of the Cryptospiridium bug in Galway, or the protests by the "Rossport Five", farmers who protested over the building of a Shell gas line in Mayo which was barely reported on in the paper, despite being front page news of most other papers. The celebrity pages usually get the most criticism, as there are frequent reports on people such as lingerie model Katy French, who are unknown outside of South Dublin social circles. Regular contributors, Emer O'Kelly, Ruth Dudley Edwards and Bruce Arnold seem to exhibit respect only for people who they think are of a high social caste. Almost without fail, every Sunday, ordinary people are constantly ridiculed and belittled in their columns, often for displaying their natural and common traits of Irishness, Ms. O'Kelly being the ultimate 'snob' in this respect. Columnist Victoria Mary Clarke has also been criticised for most of her columns being about her relationship with her fiance Shane MacGowan,or her friendship with Pete Doherty & Kate Moss.
This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Peter Doherty (born March 12, 1979) is currently the singer and songwriter of the band Babyshambles, and has briefly re-united with Carl Barât who was co-frontman and songwriter (along with Doherty) of The Libertines, with whom he first shot to fame. ... Katherine Ann Moss (born January 16, 1974), known as Kate Moss, is an iconic English supermodel and fashion designer. ...

This has had an adverse effect on the paper's sales. While sales of the paper have stayed about steady in the Greater Dublin Area, they have dropped very significantly outside the area in the last 2 years, though the paper's management will deny this.

References

External links

• Unison (full content of Independent Newspapers publications including Sunday Independent)

• Village magazine article on the Sunday Independent.

National & regional newspapers in Ireland
Currently existing Evening Echo | Evening Herald | Foinse | Herald AM | Ireland on Sunday | Irish Examiner | Irish Independent | Lá | Limerick Leader | Limerick Post | Letterkenny Post | Derry People/Donegal News | Donegal Democrat | Donegal People’s Press | Metro | Sunday Independent | Sunday Tribune | Sunday World | The Belfast Telegraph | The Irish News | The Irish Times | The News Letter | The Sunday Business Post Image File history File links Download high resolution version (746x945, 684 KB)Topography of Ireland Source: http://earthobservatory. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Evening Herald is a tabloid evening newspaper published in Dublin, Ireland by Independent News & Media. ... Foinse is the biggest Irish language newspaper in Ireland. ... The Herald AM is a free daily newspaper distributed at train stations, bus stops, and LUAS stations in Dublin. ... Ireland on Sunday is a Sunday newspaper in the Republic of Ireland published by Associated Newspapers Ireland Limited, a subsidary of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc. ... The Irish Examiner (Formerly: Cork Examiner, The Examiner) is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country. ... The Irish Independents header consists of its name and a green harp The Irish Independent is Irelands best-selling broadsheet newspaper. ... Lá Nua (meaning New Day) is an Irish language daily newspaper based in Belfast. ... The Limerick Leader is a weekly local newspaper in Limerick, Ireland. ... The Limerick Post is a free weekly newspaper, distributed throughout Limerick City in the region of Munster, Ireland. ... The Letterkenny Post is a freesheet newspaper published in Letterkenny, County Donegal. ... Derry People/Donegal News or simply Donegal News is a newspaper published in Letterkenny, County Donegal by The North West of Ireland Printing & Publishing Co. ... // Democrat history Founded by the late Mr. ... The Donegal Peoples Press is a local newspaper which circulates in County Donegal, Ireland. ... Sunday Tribune is an Irish Sunday newspaper humourously referred to as The Turbine, especially in the magazine The Phoenix. ... The Sunday World is an Irish newspaper published by Sunday Newspapers Limited, a division of Independent News and Media. ... The Belfast Telegraph is a daily evening newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland by Independent News and Media. ... The Irish News is a Berliner-sized newspaper based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. ... It has been suggested that Irish Times Trust be merged into this article or section. ... The News Letter is one of Northern Irelands main daily newspapers, published Monday to Saturday. ... The Sunday Business Post is an Irish national Sunday newspaper published by Thomas Crosbie Holdings Limited. ...
Defunct An Claidheamh Soluis | Daily Ireland | Daily News | Dublin Evening Mail | Evening Telegraph | Dublin Evening Standard | Evening Press | Freeman's Journal | The Irish Press | The Sunday Press | Sunday World (19th cent) | The Nation | United Irishman ... Daily Ireland was an Irish daily newspaper which existed from January 2005 to September 2006 to cover news stories from an Irish republican viewpoint. ... The Daily News was a shortlived Irish tabloid newspaper launched in 1982 by Dublin business Hugh McLoughlin, the owner of the Sunday Tribune. ... The Dublin Evening Mail (renamed the Evening Mail in 1928) was between 1823 and 1962 one of Dublins evening newspapers. ... The Evening Telegraph was for most of existence Ireland’s leading evening newspaper. ... The Dublin Evening Standard was a shortlived Irish newspaper that was published from 10 January to 23 May 1870. ... The Evening Press was the Newspaper originally set up by Eamon De Valeras Irish Press group, and edited by Douglas Gageby. ... The Freemans Journal (1750s?-1924) was the oldest nationalist newspaper in Ireland. ... The Irish Press was an Irish newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 1931 and 1995. ... The Sunday Press was a weekly newspaper published in Ireland from 1949 until 1995. ... For the modern Irish newspaper with the same name, see Sunday World The Sunday World was an shortlived Irish newspaper. ... The Nation was an Irish nationalist newspaper, published in the 19th century, co-founded by Thomas Davis and Charles Gavan Duffy, its first editor. ... This article is about the newspaper. ...
See also: List of newspapers in Ireland Below is a list of newspapers published in Ireland. ...