The Irish Times was the only morning broadsheet newspaper to increase its readership in the year to the end of June, new figures reveal.
The latest Joint National Readership Research study shows 343,000 people read the newspaper every day, 12.5 per cent more than in the previous year.
This increase of 38,000 readers in the 12-month period was reflected in the newspaper's readership in the first half of this year, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The Star was the only other morning newspaper to increase its readership in the year to the end of June. With the overall readership of morning titles rising by 2.6 per cent, the survey shows the readership of evening newspapers fell 7.5 per cent and the readership of Sunday papers fell by 2 per cent.
Both the Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner lost readers during the period.
According to the JNNR its report is "particulary favourable for The Irish Times and the Star but a bitter blow once again to the Irish Independent and indeed to the Irish Examiner. The Irish Times has performed well in most areas but particularly in those areas where its strength traditionally lies."
Readership of the Irish Independent fell 0.8 per cent to 591,000 in the period. This is the third successive decline recorded by the biannual survey. The Irish Independent had 644,000 readers in 2000.
Readership of the Irish Examiner fell 9.1 per cent to 210,000 in the second successive fall recorded by the survey. The paper was relaunched in 2000 in an attempt to increase its national profile. According to the latest survey, 93 per cent of its readers live in Munster.
Some 484,000 people read the Star, 7.6 per cent more than in the previous year. The newspaper is co-owned by Independent News & Media and the Express group.
The study shows more people in Dublin read The Irish Times than any other morning title. An average of 206,000 people in Dublin read the newspaper, 21 per cent more than in the previous period.
Readership in the crucial ABC1 market segment rose 18 per cent to 293,000. In the AB category, readership rose by 44,000, while readership in the C1 group rose by 27,000. Some 85 per cent of Irish Times readers are in the ABC1 grouping.
The newspaper also gained readers in the five biggest cities, in rural areas and among women. The Irish Times added readers in all urban areas including 87,000 readers in the biggest cities - Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
Some 82 per cent of Irish Times readers live in urban areas. But the newspaper also gained 11,000 rural readers, with growth strong in Connacht and Ulster in particular. Readership of the newspaper by women increased 6 per cent to 168,000 in the period. This compares with a male readership of 175,000.
The survey shows that an average of 1.44 million people read morning newspapers every day, while some 442,000 read evening titles.
Because the Evening Echo gained readers, falling readership of evening newspapers is attributed to the performance of the Evening Herald. Readership of that newspaper fell 10 per cent to 352,000 in the period.
Readership of the Evening Echo rose 4.5 per cent to 93,000. An average of some 2.01 million people read Irish published Sunday titles every week.
The Sunday Independent was the most read Sunday newspaper. Its readership increased by half a percentage point to 1.1 million in the period. The second largest weekly title is the Sunday World, whose readership rose 1 per cent to 1.04 million. Both are owned by Independent News & Media.
The greatest gain in the weekly market was recorded by Ireland on Sunday. Now owned by Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Mail titles in London, its readership rose 12.7 per cent to 186,000 in the period.
Readership of the Sunday Business Post increased by 5.7 per cent to 166,000 in the period. The paper is owned by Thomas Crosbie Holdings, publisher of the Irish Examiner.
The Sunday Tribune lost readers in the period, falling 5.8 per cent to 228,000. This follows the loss of readers last year and during the second half of 2000.
The readership of competing Sunday newspapers published by British groups was not recorded in the survey. Thus the figures do not account for the performance of the Sunday Times, an Irish edition of which is published by News International.
Neither was the readership of tabloid morning newspapers published in London recorded in the survey. Such papers include the Sun and the Irish Mirror.
This latest study assessed the reading habits of 7,006 people. The survey was compiled by Lansdowne Market Research for National Newspapers of Ireland and advertising interests.
