The National Union of Journalists says it is "gravely disappointed" by the decision of Irish Examiner publisher Landmark Media Investments to cut about 10 per cent of its workforce, or about 50 jobs, as part of a restructuring of the group.
The redundancies will have "major implications" for the Irish Examiner, its sister paper, Cork's Evening Echo, and the company's regional operation, the NUJ said.
Staff were told of the cuts at a series of briefings earlier today, with more meetings due to take place tomorrow. Half of the redundancies are expected to be at the company’s Cork headquarters, with the other half affecting the group’s regional titles.
In a statement, Landmark Media said the job cuts were being facilitated by its investment in new editorial production, advertising and finance systems, which it said would allow for “work practice changes” and the “centralisation of services”.
Landmark Media chief executive
Tom Murphy
said that following the centralisation of advertising production in Cork, a planned “crucial investment” in new technological systems would lead to the centralisation of the newspapers’ editorial production. This too will be based in Cork, and possibly at one of the regional newspaper locations.
The group’s back-office functions, such as finance, are also being moved to Cork.
Landmark said the operating and financial position of the group had “improved considerably”, but “more efficiencies need to be achieved to underpin the group’s future operating and financial structure”.
Landmark Media also owns the Nationalist titles in Carlow, Kildare and Laois, the Wexford Echo series of titles, the Waterford News and Star, the Western People and the Roscommon Herald.
The group’s employees are represented by the NUJ and Unite unions.
"We are gravely disappointed at the announcement and by the manner of the announcement," said NUJ Ireland organiser Nicola Coleman.
“The union will be consulting our representatives and members at local level and will be seeking to minimise the job losses. We are opposed to compulsory redundancies and would expect consultation on a voluntary redundancy package.”
About 560 people are employed by the group, which took over ownership of the newspapers after Thomas Crosbie Holdings (TCH) collapsed last year. TCH’s stakes in the radio stations WLR FM, Beat 102-103 and Red FM also transferred to Landmark.
The media group had employed more than 800 people at one point, but a string of acquisitions made before the economic crash had left it heavily in debt.
Landmark Media, which was last year given additional funding support by TCH's bankers AIB, is a holding company owned by Tom Crosbie, and his father Ted. Both Tom Crosbie and Ted Crosbie were among the shareholders in the family-owned TCH until it went into receivership in March 2013.
Another TCH title, the Sunday Business Post, was placed into examinership at this time and later bought by Key Capital and newspaper industry executive Paul Cooke, while another division, Thomas Crosbie Printers, was wound up.
In March 2013, Mr Murphy, who was previously chief executive of TCH, described the transfer of TCH's assets to Landmark as an opportunity for the Irish Examiner and its associated media operations to "make a fresh start" and provide "a stable platform from which to build a sustainable business".
