Ireland ranks highly on the World Press Freedom index according to the group Reporters Without Frontiers, although problems remain in areas including media funding.
The World Press Freedom Index, compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), is published today on Press Freedom Day, marked every year on 3 May.
The RSF found that the overall climate for press freedom in Ireland is positive, with journalists able to work freely and without interference.
It also described as a "welcome transition to greater pluralism" the sale of Denis O'Brien's shares in INM and Communicorp, which it said has opened up the media landscape to greater competition and diversity, and it pointed out that the long-awaited Future of Media Commission report was published in 2022.
However RSF also found that concerns remain about media funding, including funding for public service broadcasting. It also found that regional newspapers are also struggling.
Seamus Dooley, Irish Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, says that while being number two in the league is very welcome, Ireland is being compared with countries where there are major problems with suppression of the media.
He says underfunding of public service broadcasting remains a "major challenge" and says some local newspapers are 'on their knees' due to lack of resources.
He also says that online abuse of journalists, particularly women journalists is a problem here and says there is a "deep misogyny" at the heart of some online communities.
Elsewhere around the world freedom of the press is said to be deteriorating, with the situation described by RSF as "very serious in 31 countries", "difficult" in 42 and either "good or satisfactory" in 52 countries, meaning only three out of ten countries have a satisfactory rating for a free press.
The RSF found that authorities are becoming more aggressive to reporters overall and that hostility towards the press is increasing as a result of fake news and disinformation.
According to the RSF, 55 journalists and four media workers were killed at work in 2022.
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