Newspaper circulation figures released today for the first six months of 2006 show that there was a 0.2% annual rise in the circulation of the Irish Times, and sales of the Independent remained unchanged.
The audit bureau of circulation's ABC Island of Ireland report shows that average circulation for the Irish Times was 117,797 and the daily circulation of the Independent was steady at 162,582.
Yearly comparison figures were not available due to the paper changing its format, however, the figures show that circulation fell by 0.6% to 162, 582.
Evening Herald circulation was down 6.6% on the year to 87,645, while Cork's Evening Echo lost 2.3% to 27,085 and the Irish Examiner was down 0.2% to 57,217.
In the Sunday newspaper market, the Sunday Tribune's circulation fell by 1.4% over the year to 72,184, while Ireland on Sunday dropped 10% to 125,254. Sunday Independent circulation was down 1.2% at just over 287,588, while the Sunday World's circulation in the Republic was down 1% at 204,575.
The Sunday Business Post was the biggest gainer in the six months with circulation up 7.8% to 55,876.
Yearly comparison figures for the Irish Independent were not available due to the paper changing its format, however, the figures show that circulation fell by 0.6pc to 162, 582 in the six months to the end of June, compared to the final six months of last year.
In the magazine sector, the RTE guide retained its strong circulation, however, figures did slip slightly to 102,705, down 1.7%.
Elsewhere, Womans way suffered a significant drop, down 7.9% to 26,857. The Irish Farmers Journal also suffered a slight drop, down 1.1% to 65,866.
