New Press Hall by David Parry

Jean Long, NI divisional managing director of Johnston Publishing

ean Long has welcomed the completion of the £10m press project at the company’s Carn headquarters on the outskirts of Portadown. “This investment underlines our continuing commitment to all of our titles in the Province,” she said. “Despite the current economic downturn we are looking to a clear and definite future and we will continue to look at further investments in both technology and in people. “The new press facility brings extra colour and printing capacity and assures our ability to meet the needs of our advertisers and readers, both now and in the foreseeable future. “Our newspapers are at the heart of their communities and, while our local websites continue to grow, the print product remains the core of our market.

“While looking to the future we are also aware of the long-standing reporting traditions our newspapers represent, as chronicled on these pages. “The News Letter has its place in the history books as the oldest, continuously published, printed English language newspaper still in existence. “And I know News Letter staff see themselves as carrying on that tradition, with this new press facility being the latest chapter in a story stretching back to 1737. “People still want their local news from a trustworthy and familiar source and all our titles are easily recognized and trusted by their communities. “That is something we don’t see changing as we continue to reflect the ebb and flow of life in our communities.”

Darwin Templeton, editor of the News letter

arwin Templeton, editor of the News Letter, said: “The opening of the new press at Carn is just the latest chapter in a story that began in Belfast in

1737. No other newspaper in the English-speaking world has such a rich heritage and it’s one that we are very proud of. “While we are forging ahead with our digital platforms, the

printed product is still at the core of our business and still represents a daily essential for tens of thousands of faithful readers up and down the country. “With this impressive new technology at our disposal, we intend to push ahead with the development of the News Letter, drawing on our famous past, but adapting and improving our service to the community in the future.”

Morton Newspapers’ history

n 1936 John Morton - a First World War veteran - began the success story of Morton Newspapers when he bought the Lurgan Mail, his home-town local paper. Having worked for some time with the now-defunct Belfast morning newspaper, the Northern Whig, Mr Morton decided to enter the trade as a proprietor, but never dreamed it would burgeon into the empire of today. The major push for new titles came when his son, James Morton, took over the company - he was prolific in his addition of new titles to the Morton portfolio. He saw the potential in the busy town of Lisburn, where he started the Ulster Star from scratch, bought over the Portadown Times in his neighbouring town, took over the Londonderry Sentinel, purchased the Larne and Ballymena Times series from the Belfast Telegraph, set up the Coleraine Times series, among a number of never-ending expansions.

During all this expansion, James Morton set up Ireland's first web offset printing press in Lurgan, and initiated colour into the provincial weekly scene. The third generation of the family - John Morton - continued the progress when he introduced new titles like the Tyrone Times and Banbridge Leader and the firm moved into the £4.5 million purpose-built headquarters at Carn, Portadown, in November 1995. This move coincided with the acquisition of the Morton Newspapers Group by Scottish Radio Holdings and further investment kept the company ahead in the technological field. The group was acquired by Johnston Press in August 2005 – making it part of the UK’s second biggest local newspaper publisher and a major force on the internet.

State of the art press project is completed

OHNSTON Press has just completed a new £10m press project at the company’s Carn headquarters on the outskirts of Portadown. A brand new state-of-the-art computer-to-plate room has been set up and, whereas in the past there were two machines, now there are three fully computer-controlled to image plates. To this add a new reel room, press hall and new loading bays. With a capacity of 30,000 copies of 96-page fullcolour newspapers per hour - 60,000 copies every 60 minutes for papers of 48 pages or fewer – Johnston Press is in a better position than ever before to cope with whatever demands come its way. Press Hall manager Robin Logan explained, “Most of that huge sum of £10 million has gone on the building rather than on the press itself. “It has taken 15 months to do this work and as well as improved quality printing and greater capacity this venture has seen us employ more staff.” New jobs have been created, with positions for three additional printers and five press-assistants flowing from the multi-million pound upgrade. “Whereas previously there were nine on the nightshift, now there are 13,” Robin said. “In the past we had to use staff who tucked inserts by hand. Now, however, we are up to eight automated inserts. “That has greatly increased our capacity for leaflets and supplements and, in the modern era, that’s vital. “These are a big part of today’s newspaper industry, so in order to be able to compete you have to match or better your rivals’ capacities.” Each night at Carn, Jonhnston Press prints three external titles - The Guardian, Daily Record and Daily Sport. In-house it also prints the News Letter. To this add the group’s 22 Morton Newspapers provincial weekly titles - Portadown Times, Lurgan Mail, Craigavon Echo, Ulster Star (Lisburn), Banbridge Leader, Dromore Leader, Lisburn Echo, Tyrone Times, Mid-Ulster Mail, Mid-Ulster Mail (South Derry edition), Mid-Ulster Echo, Larne Times, Carrick Times, Newtownabbey Times, East Antrim Advertiser, Ballymena Times, Antrim

Tim Bowdler, chief executive of Johnston Press; Darwin Templeton, News Letter editor; Jean Long, divisional managing director of Johnston Press (Northern Ireland), and Johnston Press chairman Roger Parry pictured during a recent visit to the new press facility at Carn, Portadown. PICTURE: Gavan Caldwell)

Times, Ballymoney Times, Coleraine Times, Londonderry Sentinel, Roe Valley Sentinel and North-West Echo. The areas served by these titles include Portadown, Craigavon, Lurgan, Armagh, Tandragee, Scarva, Richhill, Moy, Markethill, Poyntzpass, Gilford, Waringstown, Donacloney, Magheralin, Moira, Aghagallon, Aghalee, Lisburn, Hillsborough, Dromore (County Down), Glenavy, Saintfield, Castlereagh, Dromara, Ballynahinch, Dunmurry, Finaghy, Crumlin, Ballinderry, Carryduff, Knockbreda, Cairnshill, Moneyreagh, Cregagh, Newtownbreda, Belvoir, Dundonald, Banbridge, Rathfriland, Cookstown, Magherafelt, Dungannon, Stewartstown, Moneymore, Draperstown, Stewartstown, Maghera, Bellaghy, Tobermore, Castledawson, Desertmartin, Ballyronan,

Coalisland, Clogher, Augher, Caledon, Aughnacloy, Granville, Ballygawley, Castlecaulfield, Dromore (County Tyrone), Larne, Carrickfergus, Newtownabbey, Whitehead, Ballyclare, Greenisland, Ballygally, Mossley, Glenarm, Carnlough, Islandmagee, Monkstown, Glengormley, Ballymena, Antrim, Randalstown, Ahoghill, Kells, Cullybackey, Galgorm, Gracehill, Broughshane, Portglenone, Coleraine, Ballymoney, Ballycastle, Portrush, Portstewart, Bushmills, Rasharkin, Dervock, Armoy, Castlerock and Kilrea. This extensive list shows the large percentage of the province served by Johnston Press titles – people who rely on the company for their local news and advertising coverage. And this is a service which is set to improve and develop with the new press facility in Portadown.

‘Delight’ with investment We leave good advertising to the professionals.

THE £10m investment by Johnston Press in a new printing press at its Portadown site will provide further opportunities to grow its business in Northern Ireland, the company’s outgoing chief executive declared when he visited Northern Ireland last month. Tim Bowdler made the statement as he headed his final meeting with the Johnston Press Board at the Carn site, where the members saw the new state-of-the-art 96page full-colour press in action. The investment by Edinburgh-based Johnston Press, which acquired the News Letter, Derry Journal group of newspapers and Morton Newspapers in 2005, also includes press and associated mailroom equipment. Mr Bowdler, who steps down as Johnston Press chief executive in January, said the

company was delighted to have made the investment. “We are really pleased with the new press and it has settled in very well. It is great for this market and is giving us colour and capability which we didn’t have before. “Our experience of doing business in Northern Ireland is a very positive one – we have some fantastic titles, including the News Letter. “We will look at upgrading systems and at investing in our digital operations and possibly new newspaper titles or reinvesting in existing titles. “But, importantly, print will always remain at the heart of the business. A newspaper is fundamentally part of the community – we will continue to develop digital channels but newspapers will remain central to the mix of Johnston Press.’

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Irish public". The price was four pence. The primary principles of the News Letter then were: - Loyalty to the Throne; - Devotion to the religion of the Bible; - Unswerving attachment to the Protestant constitution of these lands. The first pictures in the News Letter appeared in the coverage of the State funeral for the Duke of Wellington in 1852. Readers received a pictorial inset, illustrating the "great funereal pageant, of yesterday se'nnight". The inset consisted of a series of wood cuts, printed on a sheet much larger than the News Letter itself. This was the first issue of pictures by an Ulster newspaper. In 1854, the News Letter had grown to 32 columns and the first London correspondent was appointed in 1858. At this time (January 1861), the paper moved premises to Donegall Street and, for the next 140 years, the News Letter was published from this thoroughfare. James Alexander Henderson died in 1883 and the management of the paper passed to his eldest son (late Sir James Henderson). He was a barrister with a sound knowledge of the newspaper industry, acquired from a spell with the Newry Telegraph. When Sir James took over the old method of type setting was still in vogue. Each letter was taken by hand from the "case" and poured separately into the compositors' stick. Henderson was keenly interested in the attempts to improve hand-setting and he installed four Thorne type-setting machines in the compositing room. The Thorne was activated by means of keys, the keyboard being much the same as that of the modern Lineotype, and the type was set in long lines, which were divided and spaced by another operator. The Linotype composing machines, which succeeded the Thornes, required only a single operator, who manipulated a keyboard similar to that of a typewriter. Completed lines were cast

he News Letter throughout its long history has published some major news scoops - none bigger than the revelation in 1776 that America had been declared independent of British rule. The paper was heavily involved in publicising the emigration trek to America by Ulster Presbyterians, featuring daily advertisements with times the ships were leaving the ports of Belfast, Larne, Londonderry, Newry and Portrush and the fares charged. In August 1776, the News Letter reported exclusively on this side of the Atlantic on the American Declaration of Independence of July 4. The ship carrying the first copy of the Declaration was bound for London, but it ran into heavy storms off the north coast of Donegal and was forced to seek refuge in the port of Londonderry. Arrangements were made for the Declaration to be sent by fast horse to Belfast, where it would be passed to another ship for delivery to King George the Third in London. The News Letter editor gained access to the document and printed the complete text on the front page of the paper on August 23-27. The News Letter, being a radical Presbyterian organ, was enthusiastically in support of the colonists in America, championing their patriot cause for independence. Earlier, in April 1739, the News Letter covered the trial and the execution at York of notorious highwayman Dick Turpin. Other major events which the News Letter covered in detail its pages were the French Revolution, the '98 United Irish rebellion, the signing of the Act of Union in Britain, the Crimean and Boer Wars, Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee Year in 1887 (the News Letter's own 150th anniversary year), launch of the Titanic and its sinking, the Irish Home Rule debate, the creation of Northern Ireland as a state in 1921, two World Wars (191419 and 1939-45) and the Northern Ireland Troubles dating from 1969 to the mid-1990s.

and ejected from the Linotype in methodical order and with great rapidity. The News Letter's first Linotype machines were delivered on September 16, 1893 and were the first of their kind installed in any Irish newspaper office. The modern Web offset presses for printing newspapers like the News Letter came into vogue in the 1950s and early 1960s, with the progession of modern technology, succeeding the traditional Stereo-type presses which had been operational from the 19th century. The Ramage press, used from the early 18th century when the News Letter was established, was constructed almost entirely out of wood, although iron was subsequently used in many of its parts. In the early part of the 19th century, Earl Stanhope invented a press made entirely of iron, with the frame cast in a single piece.The power was applied by a combination toggle joint and lever. The Columbian Press was invented in Philadelphia in 1817, with power applied by a command lever. There followed in 1829, the Washingtom press of Samuel Rust and, in this period, the first attempt to make a rotary press facilitated the type being moved horizontally to print 1,800 impres-

sions an hour. The first major step towards facilitating the rapid and cheap production of the modern newspaper was made by Robert Hoe in New York in 1840 when the first of the type-revolving presses were built. The Applegath machine was brought into practical use in England and was first employed by the London Times in 1844. In this machine, the type-holding cylinder revolved in a vertical axis and it could print 12,000 single sheets on one side in an hour. Still faster work was needed, however, to meet the enormous increase in the public demand for newspapers. The manufacture of stereotype plates needed to churn out the papers at a more rapid pace dates back to 1860 through the emergence of a steam bed to dry a

novel style of paper mache matrix or mould, which could be conveniently used for making stereotype reproductions of the type pages in the form of plates to fit around the cylinders. By 1896, one of these plates could be made in seven minutes. This made possible the "perfecting" press, with both sides of the paper printing as it passed through the press. By then, a press could print, fold and count up to 100,000 completed eight-page newspapers per hour, or up to 50,000 16-page papers. It was in this gradual progression of newspaper printing that the Belfast News Letter moved through the decades, the paper, totally up to speed with developments, maintaining its status as a foremost organ of news on these islands, and in Europe.

BILLY KENNEDY charts the illustrious 271-year history of the NEWS LETTER from humble origins in Bridge Street, Belfast and traces the changes in newspaper printing methods since 1737

he News Letter has an illustrious history which far surpasses all of its newspaper rivals on these islands. The oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the English-speaking world dates back to September 1737 to the 'Sign of the Peacock' premises at Bridge Street in Belfast and, over a period of 271 years, it has provided coverage on the great global and local news stories of the period. News Letter founder Francis Joy was joined in the venture by two sons Henry and Robert and, from humble beginnings, the newspaper became an important vehicle for news through the 18th, 19th, 20th centuries until the present day. The News Letter and General Advertiser began as a single sheet of paper, 15 inches long and nine inches wide, and it was printed in three columns on each side. It appeared twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Bridge Street printing premises were occupied for 21 years, before the move to nearby High Street and in 1759 the subtitle of General Advertiser was dropped. In those early years when the News Letter made its appearance, many people in rural districts where it circulated were unable to read and those anxious for news assembled on certain evenings to hear the district school master give a public reading. This taught ordinary peo-

ple the necessity of education, night schools were formed, and grown men went through all stages of the alphabet, spelling and reading until they learned to make their way through the columns of the News Letter. The annual subscription for the News Letter was ten shillings and four pence Irish money, or about four shillings English currency. In 1747, the paper was printed by Henry and Robert Joy, on paper manufactured by Francis Joy at his small factory in Randalstown. Belfast at the time was a town of about 7,000 inhabitants, with Presbyterians having a dominant influence, and the population of Ulster was, for the most part, rural-based with the other main towns Londonderry, Carrickfergus, Bangor, Antrim, Newtownards, Lisburn and Newry. Francis Joy was 40 when he founded the News Letter. His ancestor Captain Thomas Joy accompanied Sir Arthur Chichester to Ireland in the 17th century migration, settling in Co Antrim and founding the Belfast branch of the family. The last member of the Joy family to be actively engaged in producing the News Letter was Henry Joy, son of Robert Joy and grandson of the founder. He became proprietor in 1789. Henry Joy Jnr. was an enthusiastic member of the Irish Volunteers and the News Letter supported agitation for the abolition of the restrictions on Irish

trade and for the repeal of Poyning's Law, under which the Irish Parliament could not legislate without the sanction of the King and Council in England. Ownership of the News Letter changed in 1795 to an Edinburgh company, consisting of directors Robert Allan, George Gordon, Ebenezar Black, James Blair and Alexander Mackay Snr. During this period the circulation had risen from 2,100 copies in January 1, 1789 to 3,225 on July 4, 1794. The price was twoand-a-half pence, but copies were passed from hand to hand, in some cases until they were in tatters. It was calculated that each paper was read by six persons, quite a high ratio. In 1804, Alexander Mackay became sole News Letter owner and a family link with the Mackays and Hendersons continued until 1991, with Captain OWJ (Bill) Henderson the last chairman from that ownership. English weekly publishing consortium Tindale Press purchased the Century Newspapers (News Letter) group in 1991 and they were succeeded by Mirror Group Newspapers in the late 1990s. in 2003, the newspaper was purchaseed by 3i venture capitalists and in 2005 ownership moved to Johnston Press plc. The Hendersons assumed control in 1844 after Alexander

Mackay's death. James Henderson (1797-1863), proprietor of the Newry Telegraph, was a close friend and adviser of the Mackey family and had been on the News Letter staff. The widow and two daughters of Alexander Mackey turned to James Henderson for advice and on April 11, 1845 when he recommended the appointment of his son James Alexander, aged 21, the Henderson dynasty in the News Letter began. By the end of 1846, Henderson had purchased "a new and elagant type" and, in 1851, the number of editions was increased from two to three (Monday, Wednesday and Friday). The paper's size was 28 columns and the sheet was "as large as any hitherto offered to the

98p 12a Bow Street, Lisburn www.lisburntoday.co.uk Tel: 9267 9111 news@ulsterstar.co.uk

he Ulster Star first appeared on Lisburn’s news stands in 1957. It was considered revolutionary as the first

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OOKSTOWN brothers John and Henry Glasgow came up with the idea of publishing a weekly newspaper back in 1891. At that time the pair were involved in the printing trade and ran a family seed merchant business at William Street in the town centre. As Cookstown was the geographical centre of Ulster they aptly named their new publication ‘The Mid-Ulster Mail’. During the early years the 'Mid' as it became known, contained from four to eight pages. The printing was done on a hand-fed printing press and the newspaper was distributed throughout East Tyrone and South Derry. In those days the paper was on sale on Fridays rather than Thursdays as today. In the 1950s a printing press was purchased,

S in past years, 2008 has been a year of substantial change for the Ballymena and Antrim Times. Responding to our readership, we're maintaining our format in a handy compact size, continuing to boost overall pagination and, through the new press, have introduced much more high quality colour. Our parent company, Johnston Press, has even more investment plans in the pipeline in keeping with their ethos as one of the pioneers of print media excellence, not least the recent expansion of the printing facilities. Newspapers have changed substantially since the

HE Dromore Leader was founded in 1916 at Bridge Street in the town by Joseph Lindsay, who had served his apprenticeship in the old Dromore Weekly Times, itself established 16 years earlier, at the turn of the 20th Century, by barrister R. J. Hunter. Mr Lindsay was later joined in the new business by his brother William. There followed in time a move to Market Square, and the premises now occupied by Graham’s Newsagents, then another to what was Mooney’s Pub, on the corner of Princes Street, which was to

tabloid newspaper competing with two long established broadsheets – the Lisburn Herald and the Lisburn Standard. They both closed soon afterwards and it was left to the Star to chronicle the growth of Lisburn from quiet market town to thriving commercial centre. The paper was at the forefront of the campaign for Lisburn to become a borough, which

succeeded in 1963. And then for city status, which was granted in 2002 to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee. In the 1980s a free sister title, the Lisburn Echo, was successfully launched. Today the two papers are complemented by a very successful website lisburntoday.co.uk which continues to grow.

enabling the size of the paper to be increased to 18 pages. Shortly afterwards the 'Mid' took what was then considered in newspaper circles, the very daring step of introducing front page news. Up until then the front page had been taken up by advertisements. Despite reservations by some readers over the switch, the paper went ahead and published news stories on the front page in 1957. 1975 saw another radical change. The introduction of modern typesetting equipment speeded up the page make-up process, making production more efficient. This preceded the launch of the paper in tabloid (Euro) form in 1978 and the move was warmly welcomed by readers. In November 1990 the 'Mid' was purchased by Morton Newspapers, Northern Ireland's largest weekly newspaper publisher. Journalists now work from day to day on computers as well as designing and laying out pages,

while digital cameras are used by the photographers. More changes followed when Johnston Press bought over the Morton Newspapers group in 2006 - and they brought with them the dawning of a new technological age by installing a completely new system for make-up and page production as well as reducing the size of the paper to the universally recognised tabloid form towards the end of 2006. The biggest change in recent months has in online journalism with a brand new website keeping readers (now also users) up to date with both local and national news as it happens. The history of the 'Mid' has always been one of progression. The 21st century will undoubtedly bring many more changes to newspaper production - as it has done already - but readers are assured the 'Mid' will continue to be in the vanguard of change as a quick skip onto the website at www.midulstermail.co.uk will testify.

Ballymena Observer - the ancestor publication of today's Ballymena and Antrim Times - first appeared way back in 1855. However, while layout and design may have altered, the central aim of this local weekly newspaper remains largely the same - to strive to report as widely as possible on the mid-Antrim area, bringing you the very latest 'hard' news, a wealth of interesting feature stories and a myriad of photographs, all on a weekly basis. Down through the years, the journalists who work for us have reported the triumphs and tragedies of the area, the ending of eras and the commencement of new ones. And, our photographers have captured those same stories expertly on film. We’re always trying to improve that service,

both in the fields of advertising and editorial and to that end have created our own website at www.ballymenatimes.com featuring the latest breaking news, features, photo gallery, and videos filmed and produced specially for the site by our own reporting team. The growing number of hits received by the website is firm evidence that you appreciate the availability of our content via the latest technology and is proof that it works well in tandem with the more traditional delivery in 'paper' form. We've been part of the local scene in this corner of County Antrim for almost 150 years and with increasing pagination, improved colour and ultra modern production methods, not to mention the provision of our services on the web, we are confident that our product can only get better.

be home to The Leader for many years; now a pub once more. Following the death of the Lindsay brothers the new man at the helm was the late Vivian Brown, a Welshman who, while he was stationed in Dromore with the Royal Army Medical Corps in the early 1940s, met and married Joseph Lindsay’s niece, Amy Silcock. In the early 1950s Mr. Brown was to become the hands-on owner of The Leader, later selling the title to the Hawthorne family, publishers of the Mourne Observer, which had by then incorporated

2M Associates Limited were delighted to have been entrusted with the Project Management of the New Press Hall at Carn and wish Johnston Publishing NI every success in the future

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the Dromore Weekly Times. Responsibility for the Leader fell first to Will Hawthorne and, following his sudden death, to his widow Mary Hawthorne; by this time The Leader operated a satellite office in neighbouring Lisburn. In September 1992 Mrs Hawthorne sold The Leader to Morton Newspapers Ltd., who closed the Lisburn office in favour of a new office in Banbridge. So was born the Banbridge Leader, still operating, though now as the parent office, from the same premises in Bridge Street. Recent years have seen The Leader, and indeed Morton Newspapers Ltd., pass first into the ownership of Scottish Radio Holdings and more recently into the ownership of Johnston Press.

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HE Ballymoney Times was launched in the spring of 1989 as an edition of the Ballymena Times. Based initially in upper Church Street, Ballymoney, the paper was under the Editorship of Lyle McMullan who worked with a small team above the premises occupied by Hale and Sons, Insurance Brokers. With a strong emphasis on community issues, the paper quickly became a firm favourite with thousands throughout the Borough.

T Est. 1829

he Tyrone Times and Dungannon Gazette was first published on April 22, 1994, under the editorship of the late Lindsay Kilpatrick. In the foreword of the first issue he wrote:

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Suite 4&5 Spencer House, Waterside, Londonderry T: 028 7134 8889 F: 028 7134 4763 www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk

he Londonderry Sentinel was founded in 1829 at a time when the issue of Catholic emancipation was a hotly debated sub-

ject. Originally titled the Londonderry Sentinel and North West Advertiser, the paper’s first edition was published on September 19, 1829 at the price of 5d (five old pence).

Much of the editorial theme - pictorially - centred on functions not normally covered such as country hall dances, birthday parties, charity-based events etc., while also ensuring that a platform was provided for those organisations and bodies keen to catch the public's attention. The paper also adopted a robust stance on social issues including helping people challenge authorities on such matters as housing, consumer affairs and politicial matters. It framed an approach that still exists today. The Times enjoys a close working relationship with schools which is considered an important aspect of encouraging today's young people to become the readers of tomorrow.

Some four years ago, the Times adjusted its masthead to incorporate the Moyle region which also formed a key element of the paper's targeted circulation area. From a marketing point of view this was an obvious choice, but the more important aspect was that it enabled readers in that area to form a more positive ownership with the paper. In 1999, the Times moved to its present location, also in Church Street, but with a more central location in relation to the town centre. The paper's popularity can be gauged by healthy sales and strong support from all sections of the community.

“The Tyrone Times is here to serve the entire community and our aim is to accurately reflect what is happening in the area, fight the causes and air your view.” Those principles remain with the Tyrone Times to this very day and will continue for the many weeks, months, years and decades to come. Our journalists are locally based which means that they have their finger on the pulse twenty four hours of a day, seven days a week. Figures in 2008 show that the Tyrone Times is

one of the fastest growing weekly newspapers in Northern Ireland. We reach out to a weekly audience which covers all of Tyrone, from the Loughshore to Trillick and beyond. In the last six months we launched our very own ‘Island Times’ covering all parts East of the county. Our website, www.tyronetimes.co.uk, has been a huge success and last year received over 1million hits. Tuesday wouldn’t be Tuesday anymore without a copy of the Tyrone Times.

It was founded by a group that included William Wallen, who had edited what was then known as the Londonderry Journal and General Advertiser – later becoming the Derry Journal. Wallen quit over the moderate political stance of the Journal on Catholic emancipation. The new paper was designed to advocate Protestant and Conservative principles. To this day, it remains a voice of Conservative unionism in the city, but has moved from its base in the city centre - where the unionist population shrank during the Troubles - to offices

in the Waterside. When first launched, the Sentinel was published on a Saturday, but has also been published on Tuesday and Thursday at various times, and is now published on Wednesdays. The Sentinel currently also has an edition covering the borough of Limavady – the Roe Valley Sentinel. Its scoops over the years included the fact that it was the first newspaper anywhere in the world to reveal that the USSR had developed an atomic bomb.

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HE Times Series has been reporting on the news in east Antrim for more than 100 years - since 1891 in fact. However, the original roots of the Larne Times and its sister newspapers the Carrick and Newtownabbey Times can be traced right back to the 1860s. The history of the newspapers goes back to the time of William and George Baird, the founders of the famous Ulster firm W and G Baird, established on November 1, 1861. The brothers were employed by the Ulster Printing Company which owned the Belfast Daily Mercury, a paper priced

14 Portland Avenue, Glengormley Tel: 028 9084 3621

at one and a half old pence and which ceased to exist in 1861, and had at the time, practically all the large contracts for printing in Ulster. For a considerable time, the Bairds had contemplated establishing an evening newspaper in Belfast and - inspired by the dream to be the first to bring out a halfpenny Belfast evening paper. And so, the Belfast Evening Telegraph was the first halfpenny daily newspaper published in Ireland. Its rival, the Evening Press, didn’t appear for another five days and only lasted two years. The Belfast Evening Telegraph was an immediate success and the machinery was totally inadequate

to keep up with the daily demand. The Bairds went to London, bought new presses and the future of the paper was secured. The company went from strength to strength and on February 28, 1873, the now defunct Belfast Weekly Telegraph appeared. The Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, now the Ballymena Times, first appeared on August 6, 1887 and the Bairds’ stable of titles continued to expand and on May 9, 1891, the Larne Times was born. The Baird family continued to own the Telegraph and its associated papers until the 1960s when they were bought by Roy Thomson and the Telegraph became part of the empire he founded. The Larne, Carrick and Newtownabbey Times ceased to be part of the Thomson group in October 1986 when they were bought by Morton Newspapers Ltd. Mortons was in turn sold in 1995 to Scottish Radio Holdings and now, since 2005, the papers have been part of Johnston Press plc.

Weekly titles continue long traditions INCORPORATING THE CRAIGAVON TIMES 4 High Street, Lurgan Tel: (028) 3832 7777

he Coleraine Times was established in February 1990 to serve the needs of a circulation area encompassing the Coleraine borough Coleraine, Portrush, Portstewart, Garvagh and Kilrea. Initially a Berliner-size weekly, coming out on a Wednesday, the paper was delivered free into homes. The newspaper's base was New Row in Coleraine and a small team of reporters and advertising reps worked hard to establish the new title. By the mid-90s the paper went paid-for and introduced some colour. It gained a reputation for excellent journalism, community stories and comprehensive entertainment, arts and sports coverage - twice winning Northern Ireland Weekly Newspaper of the Year. David Rankin, an original member of

14 Church Street, Portadown

Tel: 028 3833 6111

www.portadowntimes.co.uk

95p

HE Portadown Times began its life in 1924 in the town’s Carleton Street and was started by W.H. Wolsey - later known as ‘The Chiel’ for his long-running history column in the newspaper. At that stage, the newspaper was the poor relation to the long-established Portadown News, and was read mainly by church people and the elderly. But when the entrepreneurial Jim Morton bought it in 1956, to join his flagship Lurgan Mail, things really started buzzing, and the readers sat up and took notice.

news@lurganmail.co.uk

90p

HE Lurgan Mail is one of the oldest established newspapers in Ireland. It was set up in 1890 and since then has been keeping the people of Lurgan abreast of all that has been happening in the area and beyond. The area covered by the paper has changed dramatically over the years. The established villages of Waringstown, Dollingstown, Donacloney and Maralin have all flourished and expanded. There has also been continuing expansion in other rural areas like Aghagallon and around the lough shore. In 1936 Morton Newspapers was established and the 'MAIL' was purchased by John Morton Snr. His son James joined him in 1948 and the following year the first of many sister papers, the Portadown Times, was brought into the Morton 'fold'. The 'MAIL' takes great pride in serving the community not only in Lurgan but in the sur-

the founding team at the newspaper, took over from the first editor, John Fillis, in the summer of 1998. After Johnston Press purchased Morton Newspapers, the owners of the Coleraine Times, the paper moved to a new compact size in 2005, with more colour pages being added. In the past few years the newspaper has developed its website, www.colerainetimes.co.uk as part of a multi-platform publishing strategy.

PortadownTimes

www.lurganmail.co.uk

His first editor was David Capper - later with the BBC - followed by Jim Irvine, and in the 1960s, Mortons introduced web offset printing, being the first news group in Ireland to print in full colour, and the circulation war in Portadown was on. The Times overtook the News in the 1960s and continued to thrive under its new, dynamic young editor David Armstrong who was at the helm for 40 years-plus until he retired last year. He was succeeded by the present-day incumbent Alistair Bushe, who is leading the Portadown Times forward into the new age of technology. In the early 1970s, such was the Times superiority in the circulation stakes that Mortons

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rounding areas. Reports cover a wide range of activities from hard news stories to features and some of the lighter moments in the community at large. On the sports front the 'MAIL' provides coverage of a host of sports. While justly proud of its past the 'MAIL' has also embraced new technology to provide readers with a view of life in Lurgan right across the world with our website on www.lurganmail.co.uk

bought over the News and ran both papers (one midweek the other weekend) for a while before the Times finally became Portadown’s main newspaper. The rest, of course, is history, with Jim Morton developing the company to today’s ‘stable’ of 22 newspapers, everywhere from Londonderry to Larne, Dungannon to Coleraine, with Scottish Radio Holdings taking over from Jim’s son John, and then it went into the ownership of Johnston Press. Along the way, the Portadown Times picked up a plethora of awards, ranging from lay-out to journalism, photography to advertising, placing it up there among the brightest and best on the island of Ireland.

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