The current affairs magazine, Magill, has lost its third editor in under two years.
Mr Kevin Rafter confirmed yesterday that his contract was terminated last week. "I edited the magazine for five issues and I think we had made significant improvements." He added: "It's a shame the opportunity to continue is not to happen."
Mr Rafter, who formerly worked with RTE, The Irish Times and the Sunday Times, had been in the post for just six months, having succeeded journalist Harry McGee.
He, in turn, had replaced Emily O'Reilly after her resignation in August 1999, amid controversy surrounding the investigation into "health studio" advertisements in a sister publication, In Dublin.
The magazine's owner, Mr Mike Hogan, said any suggestion that Mr Rafter's departure was associated with a scaling down of the magazine "couldn't be further from the truth". He noted: "We have just increased our print run by 50 per cent for this current edition and we're taking out radio ads all this week."
Mr Hogan further noted that Mr Rafter received a substantial severance payment in line with his contract. He noted Mr Rafter worked exceptionally hard for the magazine "but unfortunately things did not work out".
