The Tullamore Tribune

The Tullamore Tribune is a weekly local newspaper published in Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland. It was founded in 1978 by the nearby Midland Tribune, thereby establishing a strong news presence in the Midlands region. Geoff Oakley of the Midland Tribune became its first editor and remained in this post until Ger Scully, the current editor, took over in 1994. From its founding until 2003, one Irish family, the Fannings, owned the paper.

(The Midland Tribune was founded in Birr, County Offaly in 1881 as ‘The Midland Tribune and King’s County Vindicator’. Originally founded by three Birr priests, Rev. Robert Little, Rev. Denis Sheehan and Reverend Patrick Brennan, it was managed by John (Jack) Powell from its inception. Powell took formal ownership of the paper in 1888.)

Following Powell’s death the paper passed to his widow Margarett who, in turn, passed it on to her daughter Anne Josephine (Birdie) Powell. In 1902, Anne married Dr JJ Fanning of Roscrea who remained owner until his death in 1908. At that point, day to day control of the paper fell to Anne and JJ’s son, JL Fanning, who became full owner after the death of his mother in 1955.

Both the Tullamore Tribune and Midland Tribune papers remained in the hands of the Fanning family until their sale to Alpha Publications in 2003. Both papers now jointly operate offalylive.ie, which presents similar content to that appearing in their print editions. Combined, the outlets have a print circulation of approximately 10,000 and an online audience of 26,000.

The Midland Tribune and Tullamore Tribune were purchased from Alpha Publications Ltd. by Iconic Media in 2019. Both papers are operated by Formpress Publishing Ltd. (Iconic Media) whose parent company is Media Concierge (Holdings) Limited. Media Concierge is wholly owned by The Denmark Family, with UK businessman Malcolm Denmark as the controlling shareholder.

Key Facts

Audience Share	Missing Data
Ownership Type	Private
Geographic Coverage	Local
Content Type	Paid
Data Publicly Available	ownership data is easily available from other sources, e. g. public registries etc.

Ownership

Ownership Structure	The Tullamore Tribune 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 (0.76%).
Voting Rights	Malcolm (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	Denmark Family 100

Media Companies / Groups

Facts

Founding Year	1978
Founder	James I- Fanning As longtime editor of the Midland Tribune (1946 until 1989), James I. Fanning appears to have been instrumental in the decision to launch the Tullamore Tribune as a sister paper in 1978. Fanning was the son of Dr JJ Fanning, who took ownership of the paper through his marriage to Annie (Birdie) Powell in 1902. Though Dr Fanning died young (aged just 38) in 1908, ownership of the Midland Tribune remained within the family and James I. Fanning succeeded his mother as proprietor of the Tribune upon her death in December 1955. He was still the owner when the Tullamore Tribune was established in 1978.
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 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%.
Editor-In-Chief	Ger Scully Ger Scully has served as the editor of the Tullamore since 1994, and he previously worked as a reporter for the Midland Tribune. His religious and political preferences are not publicly known.
Contact	William Street Tullamore Co. Offaly Ireland news@offalylive.ie (057) 932 1152 www.offalylive.ie

Revenue	Missing Data
Operating Profit	Missing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)	Missing Data
Market Share	Missing Data

Headlines	Michael Byrne “The Midland Tribune was 140 years old in September 2021”. OffalyHistoryBlog. 8th September 2021. Accessed 17 November 2025 Alpha buys four regional papers in 14m deal, Irish Independent, Accessed 16 July 2025
Meta Data	Historical Information about The Tullamore Tribune was obtained from the paper’s website, as well as from www.offalyhistoryblog.com. 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. The purchase of the Tribune by Formpress Publishing was confirmed via CCPC documentation. Information regarding editor, Ger Schully, was sourced from his LinkedIn profile. An average 2023 exchange rate of EUR 1 = GBP 0.8629 and EUR 1 = USD 1.181 was used (European Central Bank). 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	Companies register office, Accessed on 16 June 2025 FAME Database Formpress Publishing Profile, Accessed on 30 June 2025 Regional press: Midland Tribune and Tullamore Tribune, Media Live, Accessed 16 July 2025 “James I. Fanning, editor of the Midland Tribune 1947-1989”. 1 July 201. Accessed 17 November 2025 Geoff Oakley, newspaperman, Birr and Tullamore, died 21 September 2021, editor of the Tullamore Tribune, 1978-94, Offaly History Blog,Accessed on 17 July 2025 Ger Schully, LinkedIn, Accessed 17 July 2025
Documents (PDF)	Compiled Financial Data Formpress Publishing Limited Link File Financial Statement Formpress Publishing Limited (2023) Link File Merger Announcement Midland Tribune Link File