Publisher Mr Mike Hogan is believed to have sold his magazine In Dublin, which was withdrawn from sale last year, to a Dublin publishing house.

Mr Hogan was unavailable to comment on the reports last night, although it is believed the Irish publisher of Car Buyers Guide has held discussions with him and is purchasing the title.

In Dublin was one of the most well known magazines in Ireland, but last year Mr Hogan said poor trading conditions meant it had to close. Since then Mr Hogan has been looking for purchasers for the title.

The sum involved in the sale has not been disclosed. The company which publishes Car Buyers Guide, CBG.IE Limited, was unavailable to comment on the reports.

In Dublin, along with Magill, Irish Wedding & New Home and High Ball, were published by Mr Hogan's company Ink Publishing Ltd.

Their closure brought to an end a long and colourful era in magazine publishing. Ink Publishing had accumulated losses of €1.1 million, according to accounts for the year to December 2001.

In October, Mr Hogan said the decision was taken with regret, but the financial losses were not sustainable.

Since then Mr Hogan has moved into selling ring tones for mobile phones.

In October Mr Hogan said: "When I started off, magazines had plenty of space in the market, but with newspapers increasingly crowding into the market, things have changed radically."

He said the general downturn in the economy also played a part.