Inish Times

Logo of Inish Times

The Inish Times is a local weekly paper published in the town of Buncrana on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, the northernmost county in the Republic of Ireland. The Times was “launched from the small, two-room, upstairs office above Callaghan Jewellers in Buncrana's Main Street” by Kevin Callaghan in July 1999. It was one of several Donegal papers established during the economic boom years known as the Celtic Tiger.  
The paper was purchased by River Media from Kevin Callaghan’s Olok Limited in 2007. Like many such papers, the Times struggled financially in the wake of the 2008 financial crash. Its parent company, River Media, went into receivership and restructuring.
 
River Media’s entire holdings, including the Inish Times, the Letterkenny Post, and the Donegal Post, were purchased by Formpress Publishing Ltd. (Iconic Media) in November 2018. Iconic Media is owned by Media Concierge (Holdings) Limited. Media Concierge is wholly owned by The Denmark Family, with UK businessman Malcolm Denmark as the controlling shareholder.
 
The Inish Times now has a print circulation of 3,500. It also operates the website inishlive.ie, which provides content mostly appearing in its print edition, and claims 10,000 potential local customers across print and digital.

Key Facts

Audience ShareMissing Data
Ownership TypePrivate
Geographic CoverageLocal
Content TypePaid
Data Publicly Available
ownership data is easily available from other sources, e. g. public registries etc.

Ownership

Ownership Structure

The Inish Times is operated by Formpress Publishing Limited, which is owned by Iconic Newspapers Limited. The parent organisation of Iconic Newspapers Limited is Media Concierge (Holdings) Limited (previously Mediaforce (Holdings) Limited). The Denmark Family is the sole owner of the media group. Malcolm Denmark, who owns 75% of shares, is identified as the controlling shareholder in accounts filed with Companies House in the UK for Media Concierge (Holdings) Limited. The remaining company shares are owned by C.N. Denmark (15%), T.C. Denmark (9%), and V.M. Denmark (.76%).

Voting RightsMalcolm (M.C.) Denmark is identified as the controlling shareholder in accounts filed with Companies House in the UK for Media Concierge (Holdings) Limited.
Individual Owner

Media Companies / Groups

Facts

Founding Year1999
Founder
  • Kevin Callaghan

    Originally from Newtowncunningham near Buncrana in Donegal, Kevin Callaghan founded the Inish Times in response to what he characterised as “growing demand for a media source recognising the identity of Inishowen and its people” in the late 1990s. The paper was very much a personal venture and Callaghan has described himself as filling many roles "including photographer, delivery person, sales representative, book-keeper and manager, all of which contributed to many long days and nights.” After selling the paper to River Media in 2007, Callaghan appears to have moved out of the media sphere. However, in 2021, then owners of the paper, Iconic Media, employed Callaghan as a “brand ambassador” for the paper.

CEO
  • Malcolm Denmark

    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 venture dinto 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%.

Editor-In-Chief
  • Alan Foley

    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.

Contact33 Main Street
Buncrana
Co. Donegal
Ireland
news@inishlive.ie
+353 98 25311
www.donegallive.ie
RevenueMissing Data
Operating ProfitMissing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)Missing Data
Market ShareMissing Data
Headlines
Meta Data

Historical information about the Inish Times was obtained from the paper’s website, as well as from Donegal News. Information about circulation was gathered from www.medialive.ie.

Ownership and financial information was gathered from the FAME Database (Moody’s) regarding Formpress Publishing Limited, Iconic Newspapers Limited, and Media Concierge (Holdings) Limited. 

Information regarding editor Alan Foley was sourced from donegallive.ie. 

Accurate estimation of outlet market share was not possible because reporting on income levels in Ireland is typically done at the group level rather than the individual title level. Additionally, overall revenue details for the market as a whole are not available. 

Accurate estimation of audience share is not possible. Although Kantar collects publicly available figures on readership for national titles, parallel figures are not available for regional and local newspapers.

Sources
Documents (PDF)
  • Determination of Merger Notification River Newspapers
    Link File
  • Compiled Financial Data Formpress Publishing Limited
    Link File
  • Merger Announcement Inish Times
    Link File