Why Daily Ireland was forced to close

I must place on record my sadness at the closure of Daily Ireland, which ceases publication today after just 20 months. I came within a whisker of jumping aboard the team that launched the paper and have watched its struggles for survival with increasing alarm. There is no secret about the reason for its demise. Máirtin O Muilleoir, managing director of the Andersonstown News Group says, rightly, that it was the British government's refusal to allow Daily Ireland to tender for advertising - after previously withholding ads - that ruined its business model. True, its 10,080 sale was modest. But the group's total reach would have justified the government running ads across all its titles. The paper's design and content did gradually improve over the months, and its closure removes an important voice from the debate in the north of Ireland. (Via Daily Ireland)