null | Media Ownership Monitor Ireland

The online version of The Irish Independent, Ireland’s most widely circulated newspaper, launched as The Irish Independent Online in 1997. It has since become the third most popular digital news source in Ireland, with nearly 1,800,000 monthly visitors, as of May 2022. Much like its print counterpart, independent.ie covers a diverse range of areas, including news, politics, business, entertainment, sports and culture, while also publishing opinion pieces and content related to lifestyle and travel. Independent.ie also hosts a range of video and audio content.

When Independent.ie launched in 1997, the Irish Independents parent company, Independent News and Media (INM) was owned by Heinz chairman Tony O’Reilly. In May 2012, Communicorp founder and billionaire Denis O’Brien became the majority shareholder of INM. Ownership changed once more in 2019 when INM was acquired by current owners Mediahuis NV.

Mediahuis NV’s shareholders include the Belgian Baert Family (29.5%) via their 90% ownership Concentra, the Dutch van Puijenbroek family (16.7%) via their 100% ownership of VP Exploitatie, and the Belgian Thmoas Leysen (13.25%) via his 26.5.% ownership of Mediahuis Partners NV.

Key Facts

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

Ownership

Ownership Structure	The Independent.ie is owned by Mediahuis Ireland (Formerly Independent News and Media), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. Mediahuis' largest shareholders include the Belgian Baert Family (29.5%) via their 90% ownership Concentra, the Dutch van Puijenbroek family (16.7%) via their 100% ownership of VP Exploitatie, and the Belgian Thmoas Leysen (13.25%) via his 26.5.% ownership of Mediahuis Partners NV.
Voting Rights	The right of a stockholder to vote on matters of corporate policy and who will make up the board of directors. Voting often involves decisions on issuing securities, initiating corporate actions and making substantial changes in the corporation's operations. Either the resolutions are decided by a show of hands: this will give each shareholder one vote, regardless of the number of shares held. Or there can be a poll, by which the actual votes owned by each shareholder voting are counted.
Individual Owner	Thomas Leysen 13.3 van Puijenbroek Family 16.3 Baert Family 29.5

Media Companies / Groups

Mediahuis NV

Facts

Founding Year	1997
Founder	Vinnie Doyle was the editor of the Irish Independent when independent.ie launched in 1997. At the time, the online publication did not have an online editor. He joined The Irish Press in 1958, before transferring to the Independent Group. In 1977 he was made editor of the Evening Herald. Doyle served as editor of the Irish independent for 24 years, from 1981 to 2005.
CEO	Peter Vandersmeersch Former editor of Flemish daily newspaper De Standaard from 1999 to 2010. Subsequently the editor-in-chief and director of Amsterdam-based daily NRC Handlesblad from 2010 to 2019. A well-known commentator on Belgian and Dutch radio and television, has authored books on the French president François Mitterrand and former U.S. President Bill Clinton His wife, Francine Cunningham, works in Brussels as a regulatory and public affairs director for Bird & Bird, an international law firm, advising companies on EU regulation in the technology, content and media sectors.
Editor-In-Chief	Cormac Bourke Editor of The Irish Independent and Independent.ie since September 2022. Former Editor of The Sunday Independent (2015 – 2019). Previously worked for Ireland on Sunday, Dublin Daily and the Irish Daily Star.
Contact	Independent House 27 - 32 Talbot Street D01 X2E1 Dublin 1 info@independent.ie 353 (0)1 705 5333 www.independent.ie

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

Headlines	Ireland’s leading news website Independent.ie launches redesigned site with more video, more social features, Independent.it (2013), Accessed on 19 July 2023
Meta Data	Monthly visitor figure of 178,000 taken from Readership TGI 2022 by Mediahuis. No information about voting rights of Shareholders available. Revenue, operating Profit and Advertising not available at level of Publication.
Sources	Former Independent editor Vincent Doyle dies, RTE (2010), Accessed on 18 July 2023 INM has a new name: Mediahuis, Accessed on 18 July 2023 Independent.ie via Web Archive, Accessed on 18 July 2023 Court approves INM takeover by Mediahuis, Independent.ie (2019), Accessed on 18 July 2023 Profile William Martin Murphy, Old Dublin Town, Accessed on 18 July 2023 William Martin Murphy: patriotic entrepreneur or ‘a soulless, money-grubbing tyrant’?, History Ireland, Accessed on 18 July 2023 Ireland By Accident, About Us, Accessed on 18 July 2023 Francine Cunningham, About Me, Bird & Bird, Accessed on 18 July 2023 LinkedIn Profile Cormac Bourke, Accessed on 18 July 2023 New editor at the Irish Independent as O'Regan retires, Independent.ie (2012), Accessed on 20 July 2023 INM to Rebrand as Mediahuis Ireland from May, Irish Times (2021), Accessed on 18 July 2023 Vandermeersch named as new Mediahuis Ireland CEO, Independent.ie (2022), Accessed on 18 July 2023 Mediahuis Partners N.V, Mediaownership.ie (2023), Accessed on 18 July 2023

Headlines

Ireland’s leading news website Independent.ie launches redesigned site with more video, more social features, Independent.it (2013), Accessed on 19 July 2023

Meta Data

Monthly visitor figure of 178,000 taken from Readership TGI 2022 by Mediahuis.

No information about voting rights of Shareholders available.

Revenue, operating Profit and Advertising not available at level of Publication.

Sources