Slán to The Irish Post

It's always sad to see any publication shut down - especially when it's a result of the stringent economics times in which we live. The Irish Post (final issue pictured right) this week folded its tent and headed off to the newspaper graveyard after 41 years. The closure leaves 12 journalists out of work.

Founded in 1970 by Clare-born journalist Breandán Mac Lua and accountant Tony Beatty, The Irish Post set out to serve the Irish community in Britain. Timing was everything. The troubles in Northern Ireland were gathering momentum and with them an anti-Irish bias in some of the UK press. (Step forward the Daily Mail and Daily Express.)

The Irish community wanted its own voice in Britain. It also wanted to hear news "from home" told from a Irish perspective. These were the days before the internet and the daily publication in Britain of Dublin-based newspapers. Even RTE Radio was not heard south of Birmingham.

The Irish Post carried news culled from Irish papers local and national as well a stories about the Irish living in Britain.

Much of its coverage was of Irish clubs and their activities - Irish dancing, county association dinners, GAA match reports, etc. It met a need and fulfilled a demand. In so doing it gained itself a reputation of being "the immigrants' paper" (or "the emigrants' paper" depending from what side of the Irish Sea you viewed it).

But times change. Travel between Ireland and Britain became cheaper thanks to Ryanair. Telecoms became easier to use - no need to dial the operator - and cheaper. Then more recently, The Irish Times and Irish Independent started printing and distribution daily editions in Britain. The internet offered instant access to all manner of news from Ireland. As well as RTE's radio station and television news bulletins, many independent Irish broadcasters came online. So too did local newspapers from all over the island of Ireland. Some even are even now making their content available using apps for iPhones and iPads available.

The Irish Post adapted to the changes in Irish society with more news from a 21st century Ireland. Their final issue carries no reports of county association dinners or Irish dancing competitions. It has stories on the race for the presidency of Ireland; the recent riots; Ryan Tubridy leaving Twitter; the 2012 Olympics; and a four-page pull-out on the Rose of Tralee.

But all of this content is available elsewhere. And that is the crux of the problem. The Irish Post has been making a loss for the past five years according to owners Thomas Crosbie Holdings (TCM). (Of the three broadsheet dailies published in the Republic of Ireland, only TCM's Irish Examiner does not circulate in Britain.)

The demise of The Irish Post does not, however, leave the Irish community in Britain with no newspaper of its own. The Irish World survives and ironically, even though a younger title, it does carry news of county associations and Irish dancing - the original mix of The Irish Post.

The Irish World serves up the editorial mix that was once that of The Irish Post. By moving with the times, did the Post misjudge its market? Moving away from its roots may have sounded the death knell for The Irish Post.