±±¾©Èü³µpk10

Associated Newspapers has confirmed that it is to launch an Irish edition of the Daily Mail in the coming month.

After months of speculation, Guy Zitter, managing director of the Daily Mail, has confirmed that an Irish edition is in the offing but he declined to comment on specific details.

It is understood that Associated has been recruiting staff and the newspaper is expected to have a print run of about 100,000 copies.

At present Ireland has no mid-market newspaper and it is thought that the Irish Daily Mail would take on Sir Anthony O'Reilly's Irish Independent, which currently leads the market with a circulation of 164,000.

This is the latest in a run of investments into the Irish market by Associated Newspapers.

The British newspaper group already publishes Ireland on Sunday and in October last year it launched a Dublin edition of its commuter freesheet, Metro.

The launch of the Dublin Metro prompted O'Reilly's Independent News and Media to launch a free morning edition of its Evening Herald and the two titles are currently distributed simultaneously.