IRELAND'S first sports newspaper will be launched in late August, according to its promoters. It will be a 36 page or 40 page paper and will be available throughout Ireland.

The chairman of the board will be Mr Peter Quinn, former GAA president, who is a financial adviser. He is a brother of Mr Sean Quinn, the cement manufacturer, who also owns a string of public houses.

The company's managing director will be Mr Ashley Balbimie, who formerly worked in Britain the US. Bryan Phelan, who has an accountancy practice in Clonskeagh, Dublin.

The managing editor of the weekly paper will be Mr Liam Hayes, former captain of the Meath footballers and Sunday Press columnist. The newspaper will be edited by Mr Cathal Dervan, former Sunday World sports editor, and associate sports editor with the Star newspaper.

It is still unclear exactly who is funding the venture, or how much it will cost to launch. However it is understood the board members will be investing money and there will also be outside investors.

The paper's provisional title is Sports Sunday and it will sell for under £1 the going rate for Sunday newspaper broadsheets. The Sunday newspaper market is, highly competitive, but also lucrative - about a million newspapers - are sold each Sunday.

The paper will have 70-80 contributors as well as a number of full time staff. The promoters, who are working out of offices on City Quay in Dublin, are aiming for a similar size circulation to the Sunday Business Post, which currently sells around 33,000 copies a week. However, they believe they could sell a lot more.

The newspaper's editor, Mr Cathal Dervan said last night he was confident the necessary funding was in place. He said the proposed paper had been very well received in the advertising industry.

He dismissed suggestions that sports advertisers prefer to put their money into sponsorship.

"That is only because they have nowhere else to it," he said.

The newspaper will be printed by either the Midland Tribune, which will print the new evening paper, Evening News, or by the Meath Chronicle.