The Sunday Independent is an Irish Sunday newspaper broadsheet published by Independent News & Media plc, a subsidiary of Mediahuis.
It is the Sunday edition of the Irish Independent, and maintains an editorial position midway between magazine and tabloid.
History
The Sunday Independent was first published in 1905 as the Sunday edition of the Irish Independent.The Blackwell companion to modern Irish culture Edited by W. J. McCormack. Wiley-Blackwell, 2001 (pp. 304–5). Following the creation of the Irish Free State, the Sunday Independent followed its daily counterpart's political line by supporting Cumann na nGaedheal and its successor Fine Gael.
From the 1940s until 1970, the paper was run by Hector Legge (1901–1994). Legge's time at the paper was notable for the Sunday Independent in 1948 leaking the news that the Irish government were going to leave the British Commonwealth by repealing the External Relations Act."Hector Legge" (Obituary) in The Times, 11 November 1994. Legge also published a series of articles by the writer Frank O'Connor (under the pseudonym "Ben Mayo") in the paper.James H. Matthews, Voices: a life of Frank O'Connor, Atheneum, 1983 (pp. 196–7, 360).
In the 1970s, under the editorship of Conor O'Brien, the Sunday Independent became known for a series of investigations by journalist Joe MacAnthony into the activities of the Irish Sweepstakes.Irish Media: A Critical History since 1922 by John Horgan, Routledge, 2001.(p.105).
O'Brien was succeeded as editor in 1976 by Michael Hand."Independent Newspapers' Appointments". Irish Independent, 2 February 1976, (p.4). Retrieved 26 October 2011.Obituary of Michael Hand by Alan Morgan. The Independent, 12 July 1997. Retrieved 26 October 2011. Aengus Fanning became editor following Hand's departure in 1984.Horgan, 2001 (p. 107).
In 1984 the Sunday Independent logo changed from black to purple in colour.
Anne Harris succeeded her husband Aengus Fanning after his death in January 2012."Sunday Independent editor Aengus Fanning dies" . RTÉ News, 17 January 2012.Sunday Independent editor Anne Harris departs after final edition Irish Times, 21 December 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
On 20 December 2014, Harris ended her tenure as the Sunday Independent's editor; at her going-away party, the marketing department of Independent News and Media gave her a painting of the number "30%" to commemorate the fact Harris had raised the newspaper's circulation to 30% of the Irish market.
Cormac Bourke, the former executive editor of the Irish Independent, became the new editor of the Sunday Independent in January 2015.IMN Unveils Sheahan and Bourke as new editors. Irish Times, 9 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
Alan English, who was previously the Editor of the Limerick Leader, was appointed as editor of the Sunday Independent in January 2020.
On 17 October 2021, the paper launched a Northern Ireland edition with some localised content.
Digital archives The Sunday Independent is available on the Irish Newspaper Archives, Newspapers.com, and from 1959 to October 2006 at the British Newspaper Archive.
Content The newspaper is a general Sunday newspaper, covering news and politics. It is published in five sections: News, Sport, Business, Property, and Living, as well as a magazine section. In terms of news, while the newspaper maintains a broadsheet outlook, it has come in for much criticism lately due to its increasing emphasis on lifestyle features in the main section. It has also been criticised for regularly tending towards sensationalism, and for the often opinion-focused, rather than news-focused nature of its articles."Making a "tabloid broadsheet" work", Michael Foley. Irish Times, 21 March 1997, p.6. Retrieved 26 October 2011."The absence of critical journalism is most obvious in the pages of the Sunday Independent. The paper is low on actual hard news content and instead places an emphasis on colour pieces or features. As well as promoting its "personality journalism", the newspaper dwells on the trials and tribulations of the elite personalities in Irish society". Quoted in "Trivial Pursuits" by Eoin Devereux, Magill magazine, May 1998, (p.56). It is probably better described as a middle-of-the-road newspaper, rather than a newspaper of record. In the 1980s and 1990s, the deputy editor was Anne Harris.Emily O'Reilly, Veronica Guerin-The Life and Death of a Crime Reporter. Vintage, 1998 (p.73).
A 1997 article in Magill magazine about the newspaper stated, "Its critics have characterised it as nasty and narcissistic, its supporters as lively and libidinous, a tornado of fresh air in a stale and shrinking industry"."No More Vanity Fare?" (Profile of the Sunday Independent) by Eddie Holt, David Quin and Catherine Logan. Magill Magazine, November 1997, (p.36-41).
It often supported Fianna Fáil, particularly Bertie Ahern and then Brian Lenihan, with articles focused on that party and its policies. That Government's former Minister for Defence, Willie O'Dea has written columns for the newspaper. Other politicians to have written columns for the newspaper include Fine Gael's former Minister for Justice Alan Shatter and former Labour Party TD Michael McNamara.
Articles on transgender topics feature, often written by Eilis O'Hanlon and Tommy Conlon. On 27 August 2022, a protest outside the newspaper's office taking issue with the Sunday Independent's coverage of transgender issues was organised by Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin.
Popularly nicknamed The Sindo, the paper has been a zealous critic of the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin for many years.The Troubles: Ireland's ordeal, 1966–1996, and the search for peace by Tim Pat Coogan. London: Arrow, 1996 (p. 395). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Sunday Independent was reproachful toward SDLP politician John Hume, whom the newspaper accused of being insufficiently attentive to the needs of the Ulster Unionists."The SDLP leader John Hume still has some public explaining to do. ... Why has he refused to make any concession to Unionist difficulties on the whole question of the Anglo-Irish Agreement?" Sunday Independent editorial, quoted in "The lead for the leader writers", Fortnight Magazine, No. 271, March 1989, (p. 15). Many of the Sunday Independent's columnists also criticised Hume for negotiating with Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, accusing Hume of being naive about Adams.Modernisation, crisis and culture in Ireland, 1969–1992 by Conor McCarthy. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000. (p. 220). .
Editorial policy The editorial policy of the Sunday Independent can be described as support for laissez-faire policies in economics and strong opposition to armed republicanism; some have described the newspaper's policies as those of the New Right. It was strongly supportive of the Progressive Democrats and in favour of income tax reduction and the rolling back of the state. Issues of interest have included big government, the size of the public sector, terrorism, and the Republic's regime of stamp duty on newly acquired property. Brendan O'Connor contributes a weekly write-up for the newspaper's front page. Prior to his death, former editor Aengus Fanning also contributed editorial material. When he was deputy editor Willie Kealy did. Anne Harris did. Jody Corcoran did.
The Sunday Independent has, historically, been quite hostile to the Irish Labour Party and social democratic policies; in the early 1990s, the paper singled out Labour politicians Mary Robinson (then serving as President of Ireland), Dick Spring and Michael D. Higgins for intense criticism.Emily O'Reilly, (p. 68). The Sunday Independent also took a negative tone towards rival media outlets RTÉ and The Irish Times, objecting to perceived left-wing and pro-nationalist bias in these organisations.
The Sunday Independent's editorials came out strongly against Martin McGuinness's campaign to become President of Ireland in 2011, claiming McGuiness's IRA past made him unsuitable for the role: "Those who contemplate voting for ... McGuinness should ask if, within the context of the murders committed by the IRA on our security forces, they are prepared to force our soldiers and gardai to salute President McGuinness with equally heavy hearts.""Penny drops on McGuinness". Editorial, Sunday Independent, 16 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
Print circulation
In 2019, Independent News & Media exited the ABC auditing process.
Controversies The newspaper has been the source of many controversies over the years:
Bishop Casey controversy In 1993, the Sunday Independent advertised what was claimed as a "world exclusive" interview with Bishop Eamon Casey after he had fled Ireland following the revelation of his affair with Annie Murphy. However it was later revealed that Casey had refused to speak to the Sunday Independent and the "interview" was in fact a telephone recording of Casey speaking to a friend. The Sunday Independent later apologised for this incident, stating "We are not satisfied the bishop was interviewed in any normal sense of the word.""Paper admits errors in Casey Report", Irish Times, 26 April 1993, (p.2). Retrieved 1 November 2011.
The Keane Edge The Keane Edge was a gossip column written by Terry Keane, a fashion journalist and estranged wife of former Chief Justice of Ireland, Ronan Keane. It was frequently the subject of successful libel actions by persons angered by accusations therein. In it there were often hints of a relationship with a prominent political figure, named in the column as Sweetie. In 1999, it was revealed by Keane on the RTÉ One programme, The Late Late Show, that the figure had been the former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey. Keane gave the story as an exclusive to rival newspaper The Sunday Times, while still employed by Independent News and Media. She abruptly left the newspaper (amid much recriminations) and her column continued as Not The Keane Edge, soon renamed The Double Edge.
Mary Ellen Synon controversy Mary Ellen Synon, a columnist with the newspaper, caused much controversy when she attacked the Paralympic Games as being "perverse", in an article of 22 October 2000. This became the subject of much public debate and lead to the columnist being criticised in the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament). Initially, the editor, Aengus Fanning, defended the columnist, however he eventually issued an apology, after the then health boards threatened to withdraw advertising from the newspaper. Synon has not written for the newspaper since, although it was denied that she had been dismissed from the newspaper.Disability and Social policy in Ireland by Suzanne Quin and Bairbre Redmond, University of Dublin Press, 2003 (p. 174).
The 03 team The 03 (later 04) team were a group of young female journalists who appeared in the Sunday Independent during 2003 and early 2004. The articles, originally appearing in the Living supplement but soon promoted to the main section, comprised the various members of the team writing usually very poor quality short articles on a common subject. However, they were usually accompanied by a large colour group photo of the team posing scantily clad and very occasionally topless. Eventually the feature was dropped, but not before the team had made a television appearance on the RTÉ One show Open House. They occasionally featured as a fantasy figure for fictional Sunday Tribune character Ross O'Carroll-Kelly.
Death of Liam Lawlor