British regional media group Johnston Press said advertising revenues at its Irish newspaper titles remained buoyant despite an overall 8 per cent fall in the group's advertising revenues.

"We're still seeing good growth in the Republic of Ireland and we're seeing very strong single-figure advertising growth," said Tim Bowdler, chief executive of Johnston Press, which bought the Leinster Leader group in Ireland for €139 million last year.

It also owns the Kilkenny People, Longford Leader and Leitrim Observer.

"All of the acquisitions we made last year are on schedule to be earnings enhancing this year," said Mr Bowdler.

However, in a trading update, the company said there had been no uplift in the UK advertising market, which has been under pressure for months and warned that it did not expect any improvement in the near future.

The group, which has over 300 titles, had a sharp fall in job and motor advertising. Advertising spend by retailers was also down.

Difficult market conditions and industry restructuring resulted in motors advertising continuing to experience double-digit declines, while the retail sector also continued to be challenging, it said. Property advertising was still experiencing growth, albeit at a slower rate.