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The Nationalist is a weekly newspaper published in Clonmel, a town in south County Tipperary, Ireland. The Nationalist and its sister paper, The Tipperary Star, are the main regional media outlets serving the County Tipperary region. The Nationalist is published each Wednesday, and both the Nationalist and the Star populate the news site www.tipperarylive.ie, which primarily runs stories appearing in the papers’ print editions. 
 
The Nationalist was founded in 1890 as a mouthpiece for the Irish Home Rule  political movement and the Land League reform advocacy. From May 1892 until February 1908 it was known as the Nationalist and Tipperary Advertiser. From 1908 until December 2010, it was renamed as the Nationalist and Munster Advertiser. Since 2011, it has reverted to its original title of The Nationalist. 


In July 1922, in the middle of the Irish Civil war,  the paper’s offices and equipment were destroyed by an IRA unit frustrated by the paper’s refusal to adopt an anti-Anglo-Irish Treaty editorial stance.  


Somewhat unusually, for the first century of its existence, sharesholdings in the paper were widely spread. The 1924 annual accounts for the paper listed approximately 25 shareholders. By 1991, the 559,999 shares of The Nationalist Newspaper Limited were spread across 100 shareholders with no individual owning more than 14% of the paper. 


In 1991, the Nationalist, along with the Tipperary Star were sold for £IR2.5m to the Keane Family-owned Kilkenny People Group. In 2000, the entire Kilkenny People Group, including the Nationalist, was acquired from the Keane family by Scottish Radio Holdings for €35.6m. 


In June 2005, UK media firm EMAP plc announced its intention to complete its acquisition of SRH. As part of the deal, it agreed to immediately sell on SRH’s Score Press Limited subsidiary to another Scottish print group, Johnston Press. The sale of Score Press saw 45 titles from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland (which accounted for five titles including The Nationalist) sold to Johnston Press.    
 
Both the Nationalist and the Star were purchased from Johnston Press by Iconic Media in a 2014 acquisition. Iconic Media is owned by Media Concierge (Holdings) Limited, which is in turn owned by the Denmark Family, with UK businessman Malcolm Denmark as the controlling shareholder.

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 Nationalist is published 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 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 Year1890
Founder
  • James J. Long

    Early editions of the Nationalist (from 1890) identify James J. Long as the printer. The printing address appears to match the newspaper's office location at Parnell Street, Clonmel, suggesting the paper was printed in-house, though the exact street number remains unclear (possibly 41 or 43). According to an episode of ‘Next Stop’ broadcast on RTE on 20 April 1977, the newspaper was originally set up by a “group of local businessmen”.

CEO
  • Malcolm Denmark

    Malcolm Denmark is an advertising executive who established Mediaforce UK in 1985, initially as an advertising agency representing media owners to advertising agencies, with the focus on regional outlets across the UK. The business has since expanded significantly to include the production and distribution of print inserts for local and national publications, as well as direct ownership of regional and local media publishers in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland through an aggressive acquisition policy. 

    In 2023, Mediaforce UK was renamed to Media Concierge (Holdings) limited, the parent company that now encompasses multiple subsidiaries and business divisions. Through its subsidiary structure, Media Concierge’s Irish operations are conducted via Iconic Newspapers Limited, which owns Formpress Publishing Limited, the publisher of the Nationalist and other local titles. Media Concierge's business activities span advertising representation, marketing, publishing, and distribution services. In addition to media businesses, Malcolm Denmark also holds significant property interests and is the owner of multiple race horses.
     
    Ownership of Media Concierge (Holdings) Ltd. is held by Malcolm Denmark (75.2%), his son Callum Nicolas Denmark (15%), his daughter Tara Clare Denmark (9%), and Valerie Mary Denmark (0.76%).

Editor-In-Chief
  • Darren Hassett

    Darren Hassett, a County Tipperary Native, has served as Tipperary’s Regional Editor for Iconic Media (incl. The Nationalist and Tipperary Star) since 2021. He previously worked as a reporter for the Irish Daily Mail, the Kildare Nationalist, the Ireland International News Agency, and the Kilkenny People. 
    Although Hassett’s political leanings are not publicly known, he wrote a popular 2024 column for Tipperarylive.ie condemning far-right involvement in anti-immigration protests in the Tipperary village of Dundrum.

ContactGladstone Street
Clonmel
news@nationalist.ie
05261 72500
http://www.tipperarylive.ie
RevenueMissing Data
Operating ProfitMissing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)Missing Data
Market ShareMissing Data
Headlines
Meta Data

Historical Information about The Nationalist was obtained from the paper’s website, as well as from the RTE Archives and the Tipperary Museum of Hidden History. 

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

An average 2023 exchange rate of EUR 1 = GBP 0.8629 and EUR 1 = USD 1.181 was used (European Central Bank).

Information regarding Editor, Darren Hassett, was taken from his LinkedIn profile and tipperarylive.ie editorials. 

Market share for this outlet could not be calculated due to two data limitations: Irish financial reporting requirements typically disclose revenue at the group level rather than for individual titles, and comprehensive market-wide revenue data for Irish media are not publicly 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.  Individual outlets may publish data on readership or users; however, measurement parameters and sources vary between organisations, thereby limiting opportunities for comparison.

Sources
Documents (PDF)
  • Compiled Financial Data Formpress Publishing Limited
    Link File
  • Financial Statement Formpress Publishing Limited (2023)
    Link File