Sunday Life (newspaper)

Sunday Life
Type Sunday newspaper
Format Tabloid
Owner(s) Independent News & Media
Editor Martin Breen
Founded 23 October 1988
Language English
Headquarters Belfast, Northern Ireland
Circulation 47,584 (Jun-Dec 2012)
Sister newspapers The Belfast Telegraph

The Sunday Life is a Sunday newspaper in Northern Ireland and has been published since October 23, 1988. It is the sister paper of The Belfast Telegraph and is owned by Independent News & Media.[1]

Circulation

Its official sales figure for the period June–December 2012 was 47,584, a 2.4% drop on the previous six months, according to the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations UK).[2] However Sunday Life increased its readership by 9,000 to 215,000, according to the NI TGI 2012.[3] At the CIPR NI Media Awards the paper has been awarded the Sunday newspaper of the year title for four of the past five years. [4]

Sunday Life circulation fell to 40,602 for the period January to June 2015. [5] If Sunday is Christmas Day the Christmas edition of the paper is moved to Saturday December 24th.

History

The Sunday Life was born on April 20, 1988, at that time the Belfast Telegraph was owned by the Thomson International Organisation. After getting the go-ahead at an executive meeting, Belfast Telegraph managing director Bob Crane called together his senior executives and they organised a private conference to plan the launch of the Sunday Life. He booked the small Drumnagreagh Hotel near Ballygally on the Antrim coast and there the blueprint for the Sunday Life was created. Crane made two immediate appointments - Ed Curran and Margaret Clarke. Curran, deputy editor of the Belfast Telegraph who joined the company in 1966, would be the editor. He would go on to become Belfast Telegraph editor. Clarke, a key figure in management, was asked to assume additional responsibilities as general manager of Sunday Life'. With so many executives away from the Belfast Telegraph HQ rumours were rife in media circles that something was being planned so Crane decided that a statement had to be issued to clarify the position. This statement became known as "the Drumnagreagh Declaration".[6]

The Drumnagreagh Declaration

The announcement about the launch of the Sunday Life was issued on April 29, 1988. Ed Curran and Roy Lilley, the Belfast Telegraph's editor, were asked to draft a press release. During a coffee break as the new paper was being planned at the Drumnagreagh Hotel in Co Antrim, they sat at an old battered typewriter in the hotel's office to hammer out what became known as "the Drumnagreagh Declaration".

'Belfast Telegraph Newspaper Limited is planning a new Sunday newspaper this year. Mr R.C. Crane, managing director of Belfast Telegraph Newspapers Limited, said today: "This exciting new development will mean increased opportunities for employment in the newspaper business in Northern Ireland. The necessary journalists and advertising sales staff will be recruited shortly. 'The new paper will have the benefit of the most up-to-date technology. It will make full use of colour and will provide readers and advertisers with a reliable and comprehensive service. The editor of the paper, which is still at the planning stage, will be Mr Edmund Curran, currently deputy editor of the Belfast Telegraph. Mr Curran was educated at Dungannon Royal School and is a graduate of Queen's University. He joined this company in 1966 and after gaining experience as a reporter, feature writer and leader writer, took up his present position in 1974. 'Mr Curran is widely known as a commentator on Northern Ireland affairs on radio and television, and as a contributor to publications of international standing in Britain and the United States. He stated today: "We intend to produce a Sunday newspaper which Northern Ireland readers and advertisers will enjoy and respect. We will have a top-class team, and although independent of the Telegraph, will reflect the high standards set by it." 'Mrs Margaret Clarke, the Belfast Telegraph classified advertising manager, will assume additional responsibilities as general manager of the new paper, developing it as a major advertising medium.'".[7]

Current editorial team

Editor - Martin Breen

Reporting team

Columnists

References

  1. ↑ British Newspapers Online
  2. ↑
  3. ↑
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ http://www.abc.org.uk/Certificates/47253625.pdf
  6. ↑ The Tele - A History of the Belfast Telegraph, by Malcolm Brodie MBE
  7. ↑ The Tele - A History of the Belfast Telegraph, by Malcolm Brodie MBE
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