The London-based Independent newspaper group is to stop printing and distributing its daily and Sunday titles in Ireland from July 2nd.
John Simmonds, head of circulation at the UK newspaper group, has told newsagents that the decision was based on the “extremely high costs of printing” and low sales.
The final publication to be distributed in the Republic and Northern Ireland will be the Independent on Sunday of July 1st.
Latest figures show the daily Independent had an average sale in the Republic of 827 from December to May. The Independent on Sunday sold 1,313 copies each Sunday during the same period. Figures for Northern Ireland are not given.
The newspapers are printed in Newry by Dublin-based Independent News & Media, which sold the then loss-making titles in 2010 to Alexander Lebedev for a token £1.
The UK media group intends to continue circulating its newspaper in Ireland, which had an average daily circulation in the Republic of 506 between December and May.
