Donegal Post

River Media was founded in 2005 by Tim Collins and Padraig O’Dwyer. 

Tim Collins, was born in 1959 and educated at Castleknock College. He studied medicine at Trinity College and practised as a GP in Ireland and Australia. He later left medicine and worked as a photographer, returning to Ireland in 1989 to present RTÉ environment programmes.

In the early 1990s Collins moved into the political sphere, working as a special adviser to Progressive Democrat TD Mary Harney during her stint as Minister of State with responsibility for Environmental Protection. He subsequently worked as a special adviser to Brendan Howlin when Howlin was Minister for Health and then Environment between 1992-1997. Collins also entered politics and was elected to Bray Council in 1994 and stood (unsuccessfully) as a Labour Party candidate in a 1995 by-election and the 1997 general election. 

In 1998, Collins  returned to media work becoming Director of Public Affairs at Drury Communications, until 2004. Having qualified as barrister 2005, he moved to become  joint chief executive of the Sligo-based local radio station  Ocean FM 2004.

In 2005 Collins, along with Padraig O’Dwyer, established his own media group:  River Newspapers and the broadcast-focused, Northern Media Group.

River Media fo-founder, Padraig O’Dwyer, began his professional life in the Irish radio sector, where he was involved in the launch and early development of several successful local stations. Among them were KFM Radio in County Kildare and Ocean FM in the northwest.

Malcolm Denmark is an advertising executive who established Mediaforce UK in 1985, an advertising agency which represented media owners to advertising agencies. At the time, Mediaforce focused mainly on regional outlets across the UK. However, the business now includes the production and distribution of inserts in local and national titles. It has also expanded into print and online outlet ownership through an aggressive acquisition policy focusing on regional and local media publishers in the UK and Ireland. 
 
Since the establishment of Mediaforce, Malcolm Denmark’s business interests have expanded in this sector. He has established Media Concierge (Holdings) Ltd., which includes several subsidiaries, including Mediaforce. Denmark has also ventured into business activities that encompass a full range of advertising services such as representation, marketing, publishing, and distribution for Iconic Media in Ireland (Mediaforce Ireland/Formpress), which is the news publishing section of his business. In addition to media businesses, Malcolm Denmark also holds significant property interests and is the owner of multiple race horses.
 
Malcolm Denmark owns 75.2% of Media Concierge, alongside his son Callum Nicolas Denmark’s 15%, his daughter Tara Clare Denmark’s 9% and Valerie Mary Denmark (born 1957) 0.76%.

Alan Foley has served as the Managing Editor for Iconic Media outlets in County Donegal since 2023. He is responsible for content appearing in the Donegal Democrat, the Inish Times, the Inishowen Independent, the Donegal Post and LetterkennyLive. He previously worked as a sports editor for the Donegal Democrat.