null | Media Ownership Monitor Ireland

Laoislive is a news website populated by content from The Leinster Express newspaper, as well as stories from other newspapers in the Iconic newspaper network. The Leinster Express is a weekly local newspaper published in Portlaoise, County Laois, in the Midlands region of Ireland. The Express was founded by businessman Henry W. Talbot in 1831, making it one of the oldest provincial papers in Ireland and the first in County Laois (then known as the Queen’s County). Laoislive was launched in 2022, with staff calling it a 'new chapter in our 191-year history' and the ‘digital face of the Leinster Express team’. Laoislive runs stories appearing in the Leinster Express, as well as other Iconic-owned news outlets. Information about page visits for the site itself is not publicly available, though the ‘advertising’ section of the website claims an ‘audience’ of 38,000 across print and digital.

The decision to move the Leinster Express under the Laoislive website was made by the paper's owner, Iconic Newspapers. Iconic Newspapers purchased a number of Irish newspapers in the 2010s and immediately set about modernising and digitising those operations. All Iconic news websites include 'live' at the end of their URLs. News content appearing on Louthlive is free to access. However, access to the Leinster Express e-paper requires a subscription.

Iconic's push for centralised news sites aligns with broader 'digital first' trends in the Irish news industry. Newspaper owners are increasingly reducing staff numbers through voluntary redundancies and layoffs in Ireland. Some owners (such as Mediahuis) are planning to phase out print publications altogether due to declining print circulation and increasing costs. The collection of local news sites under a single banner also represents another layer of de-localisation in the Irish news industry. Irish newspaper ownership has become increasingly concentrated in the 21st century, and Iconic (Media Concierge) is now Ireland's largest holder of local and regional papers, with 18 titles. The impact of the combined concentration in ownership and web presence is that traditionally hyper-local titles such as the Leinster Express now share regional and national content.

It is important to note that there is a degree of opacity concerning how content on Laoislive is curated. Laoislive is only served by one paper, which means that editorial decisions are more easily traced than in the case of Iconic's 'Live' news sites that are served by multiple newspapers (e.g., Donegallive). However, there does not appear to be a dedicated editorial staff for the website itself, and information on website content decisions is not provided. This lack of editorial transparency becomes more problematic when considering that the broader network of Iconic newspapers supplies a significant volume of Laoislive’s content; it also raises the question of whether Ireland's growing online news ecosystem will adhere to the same level of editorial transparency as has historically been the case with print.

The Leinster Express was purchased from Johnstown Press by Iconic Newspapers in a 2014 acquisition. Iconic Newspapers is owned by Media Concierge (Holdings) Limited, which is in turn owned by The Denmark Family, with UK businessman Malcolm Denmark as the controlling shareholder.

Key Facts

Audience Share	Missing Data
Ownership Type	Private
Geographic Coverage	Local
Content Type	Mixed
Data Publicly Available	ownership data is easily available from other sources, e. g. public registries etc.
Operating Company	Form Press Publishing Identifier: Limited Liability Company, Companies Registration Office (CRO) Company Number: IE538870

Ownership

Ownership Structure	Laoislive is operated by Formpress Publishing Limited, which is owned by Iconic Newspapers Limited. The parent organisation of Iconic Newspapers Limited is Media Concierge (Holdings) Limited (previously Mediaforce (Holdings) Limited). The Denmark Family is the sole owner of the media group. Malcolm Denmark, who owns 75% of shares, is identified as the controlling shareholder in accounts filed with Companies House in the UK for Media Concierge (Holdings) Limited. The remaining company shares are owned by C.N. Denmark (15%), T.C. Denmark (9%), and V.M. Denmark (0.76%).
Voting Rights	Malcolm (M.C.) Denmark is identified as the controlling shareholder in accounts filed with Companies House in the UK for Media Concierge (Holdings) Limited.
Individual Owner	Denmark Family 100

Operating Company

Media Concierge (Holdings) Ltd.
100%

Facts

Founding Year	2022
Founder	Missing Data Iconic Newspapers (owned by Media Concierge Holdings Ltd., previously known as Mediaforce) owns 18 newspaper titles throughout the Republic of Ireland. Iconic purchased 14 of these papers, including the Leinster Express, from Johnstown Press in a 2014 acquisition. Iconic has especially focused on modernising and digitising its Irish newspaper stable by providing news sites for all papers, sometimes consolidating regional papers under a single site (e.g., Donegallive.ie). All Iconic news websites include 'live' at the end of their URLs. News content appearing on these websites is free to access, though the e-paper versions of the local papers require a subscription. Unlike Mediahuis, Iconic has not publicly stated that it is phasing out print newspapers in favour of news sites.
CEO	Malcolm Denmark Malcolm Denmark is an advertising executive who established Mediaforce UK in 1985 as an advertising agency which represented media owners to advertising agencies, focussing mainly on regional outlets across the UK. The business also includes the production and distribution of inserts in local and national titles and has expanded into print and online outlet ownership through an aggressive acquisition policy focusing on regional and local media publishers in the UK and Ireland. Since the establishment of Mediaforce, Malcolm Denmark’s business interests have expanded in this sector and he has established Media Concierge (Holdings) Ltd. This company includes a number of subsidiaries including Mediaforce and business activities include a full range of advertising services from representation, and marketing to publishing and distribution, Iconic Newspapers in Ireland (Mediaforce Ireland/Formpress) the news publishing section of his business interests. Outside his media interests (advertising, publishing, print production and distribution) Malcolm Denmark also has interests in property and is the owner of multiple race horses. Malcolm Denmark owns 75.2% of Media Concierge, alongside his son Callum Nicolas Denmark’s 15%, his daughter Tara Clare Denmark’s 9% and Valerie Mary Denmark (born 1957) 0.76%.
Editor-In-Chief	Laura McLoughlin Laura McLoughlin has served as the managing editor of the Leinster Express 2024, when she replaced long-time editor Pat Somers (now a barrister at law). McLoughlin is the first female editor in the paper’s history. She previously worked for six years as editor of Donegal News, based in Letterkenny.
Contact	107 Lower Main Street Portlaoise Co. Laois news@leinsterexpress.ie +353 (0) 57-8621666 www.laoislive.ie

Revenue	Missing Data
Operating Profit	Missing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)	Missing Data
Market Share	Missing Data

Headlines	Change is here... Introducing Laois Live (2022), Laoislive, Accessed 22 February 2022 Leinster Express moves to new office - at a pivotal corner of Laois life on Main Street (2016), Leinster Express, Accessed on 22 July 2025 Historical Feature: When the Leinster Express went tabloid (2016), the Leinster Express, Accessed 22 July 2025 The Leinster Express through the years and memories of the 70s, 80s and 90s (2016), The Leinster Express, Accessed 22 July 2025 Leinster Express Laois Live appoints new editor (2024), Leinster Express, Accessed 25 July 2025 150 years serving the midlands (26 September 1981), The Leinster Express, Accessed via Irish Newspaper Archives on 22 July 2025 Leinster express group merges with Leinster Leader (16 December 1998), The Leinster Express, Accessed via Irish Newspaper Archives on 22 July 2025
Meta Data	Historical Information about the Leinster Express from the paper’s website, as well as from the Irish Newspaper Archives. Information about circulation was gathered from www.medialive.ie. Ownership and financial information was gathered from the FAME Database (Moody’s) regarding Formpress Publishing Limited, Iconic Newspapers Limited, and Media Concierge (Holdings) Limited. Information regarding managing editor, Laura McLoughlin, was sourced from laoislive.ie and her LinkedIn profile. An average 2023 exchange rate of EUR 1 = GBP 0.8629 and EUR 1 = USD 1.181 was used (European Central Bank). Accurate estimation of outlet market share was not possible because reporting on income levels in Ireland is typically done at the group level rather than the individual title level. Additionally, overall revenue details for the market as a whole are not available. Accurate estimation of audience share of news sites is not possible. Although Kantar collects publicly available figures on readership for national print titles, parallel figures are not available for regional and local newspapers and their websites. Furthermore, the ‘advertise with use’ sections of Iconic’s ‘Live’ websites do not provide information on page visits and only present consolidated readership numbers across print, website and social media.
Sources	Formpress Publishing Form B1-C, Companies Register Office, Accessed on 16 June 2025 FAME Database Formpress Publishing Profile, Accessed on 30 June 2025
Documents (PDF)	150 Years Serving the Midlands Link File Financial Statement Bauer Media Audio Ireland Ltd. (2023) Link File Financial Statement Formpress Publishing Limited (2023) Link File Compiled Financial Data Formpress Publishing Limited Link File