The Drogheda Independent

The Drogheda Independent is a weekly local paper published in Drogheda, Co. Louth, a town north of Dublin with a population of 40,000. The Independent was first published on St. Patrick’s Day in 1884. It was established  by Father James Anderson, an Augustinian priest, who established the Drogheda Independent Club in 1881 to promote Home Rule and Land Reform in the area. Anderson funded the establishment by selling 666 shares at £1 each.  

The first directors of the Drogheda Independent represented a wide cross-section of the town’s business and political life. Charles Stewart Parnell, an Irish nationalist MP, rewarded the paper’s support by becoming a shareholder. 

For much of the 20th century, share ownership in the paper was spread across a multiplicity of shareholders, mostly from Drogheda. However, it is apparent that Seamus O’Rourke, Managing Director of the Drogheda Independent, was instrumental in the expansion of the business. Notably, O’Rourke led the acquisition of the Argus newspaper in 1959. Though notionally operating in the same north-east market, the two papers avoided direct competition, with the Argus focusing on Dundalk, North Louth and Monaghan areas, while the Independent concentrated on the region in and around Drogheda.

In 1967, Independent Newspapers made a bid for the titles understood to be worth in the region of £40,000. In January 1968, the Drogehda Independent reported that the Independent Newspapers bid had been accepted by shareholders representing more than 95% of the share capital. 

Independent Newspapers would rebrand as Independent News and Media Limited in 1973, reflecting the company’s growing portfolio of national and regional newspapers. In 1981, following a stock market listing, the company became ‘Independent News and Media (INM) PLC’.

In 2019, INM’s holdings were purchased by Mediahuis NV, and the company was re-branded as Mediahuis Ireland. Mediahuis NV’s largest individual shareholders are the Baert Family, the van Puijenbroek Family, and Thomas Leysen.

Today, the Independent is one of two newspapers in Drogheda. The other publication, the Drogheda Leader, is a free paper. Information on the Independent’s circulation and readership is not readily available. This lack of information is perhaps unsurprising as Mediahuis Ireland, the paper’s owner, foresees phasing out all print sales by 2033. The Independent has no website of its own but provides content for the Regionals section of the Irish Independent website.