The launch of the New Galway Observer set to increase competition in the city's newspaper market.
Newspaper publishing in Galway has been dominated by The Connacht Tribune Group since 1909. Some 28,500 copies of the Tribune are produced weekly with 6,000 copies of its sister paper, The Connacht Sentinel.
The latest provincial newspaper on the market attempting to challenge the status quo, is The New Galway Observer. It will be a weekly tabloid freesheet with an immediate aim of a circulation of 25,000. The newspaper will be set with computerised equipment and printed in Limerick.
Editor of The New Galway Observer Brian McDonald, previously the assistant editor of The Connacht Tribune Group, is confident the new paper will succeed as it is a professional run operation offering competitive advertising rates.
Editor of The Connacht Tribune Group Sean V Fahy says they are both interested and concerned about the new title on the market. To meet the challenge, The Tribune is producing a city edition of the paper to be known as The City Tribune, launching two days after The New Galway Observer.
It is an interesting coincidence that we are coming out in the same week.
Ireland’s first free newspaper, The Galway Advertiser, launched in 1970. It has a circulation of 32,000 and is also preparing for the competition by announcing a 50% cut classified advertising rates.
Editor of The Galway Advertiser Pat O’Connor is nonplussed by talk of a circulation and advertising war in Galway. He wishes the competition well saying to launch in such a competitive market.
You want a lot of courage and a lot of youth and a lot of money behind you.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 4 September 1984. The reporter is Jim Fahy.
