REGIONAL newspaper publishing is a tricky business as Niall Mellon and his fellow investors in the Voicenewspaper group have recently discovered.

The Voicehas closed loss- making titles in Cavan, Monaghan, Kildare and Tipperary, making 40 staff redundant in the process.

The Clare Peopleis another regional title trying to find its feet. Documents filed recently in the Companies Office show that it recently secured a €500,000 working capital facility with Bank of Ireland.

Accounts for Clare College News Ltd, which publishes the People, show it made a loss of €936,834 in 2006 in spite of its turnover more than doubling to €1.9 million. Its accumulated losses stood at €1.7 million at the end of December 2006.

According to its co-founder and entrepreneur Dómhnal Slattery, the paper is on target to meet its financial targets.

Slattery, who along with Seán Lyne has invested about €3 million in the paper, said it continued to be loss-making in 2007 but its advertising and circulation grew substantially.

He forecast that the Peoplewould enter the black within 18 months, while acknowledging a tougher advertising environment.