Formpress Publishing Limited Ireland’s largest regional newspaper publishing company, operating a broad portfolio of local titles and associated digital news brands. It is a subsidiary of Iconic Newspapers, which is in turn part of the Media Concierge group, ultimately controlled by British businessman Malcolm Denmark.
Formpress’s roots lie in the 2014 acquisition of Johnston Press’s Republic of Ireland newspaper operations. In April 2014, Edinburgh-based Johnston Press sold its 14 local and regional newspaper titles in the Republic of Ireland to Iconic Newspapers Ltd for approximately as it sought to reduce debt and refocus its business.
Johnston had entered the Irish market in 2005 with a €138.6m acquisition of the Leinster Leader group, whose titles include the Leinster Leader, Leinster Express, Offaly Express, Dundalk Democrat, Limerick Leader and the Echo. This was immediately followed by the €95m purchase of the Local Press Group whose titles included the Donegal Democrat, and Letterkenny Listener. Thereafter Johnston continued to acquire smaller regional weeklies across Leinster, Munster, and Connacht. Johnston sought to create clusters of titles in each county to centralize printing and administration. They also commenced a programme of digital transitions but while some acquired titles received online presence development, adoption was slower than in the UK element of Johnston’s operation.
Johnston’s timing proved unfortunate in that it acquired these local newspaper assets at their peak Celtic Tiger value. However, with the collapse of print markets, both in terms of circulation and advertising revenues following the 2008 Financial Crisis, the value of Johnston’s Irish titles collapsed. Having spent over €200m acquiring them, they were sold for €8.7m to Malcolm Denmark’s Mediaforce in 2014.
To facilitate this acquisition, Johnston Press’s Republic of Ireland business (including asset ownership and staff contracts) was transferred to a newly formed company — Formpress Publishing Limited early in 2014, ahead of the final sale. Formpress effectively became the corporate vehicle for Iconic Newspapers’ regional Irish interests, taking over editorial operations and publishing responsibilities for the former Johnston Press titles.
Iconic Newspapers is the holding company for Formpress Publishing and is ultimately owned by Mediaforce (and by extension, the Media Concierge group Mediaforce (Holdings) Limited is also the sole owner of Mediaforce (Ireland) Limited (“Mediaforce”) which was established in 2003. In the late nineties the Regional Newspapers and Printers Association of Ireland (“RNPAI”) established the Regional Newspapers Advertising Network (RNAN), which was to become the national advertising sales agency for its member titles. The remit of the RNAN was to pitch to national advertisers and advertising agencies for advertising for its member titles. In 2004, RNPAI decided to wind down RNAN and appointed Mediaforce as the national adverting sales agent for its member titles. Thus Mediaforce (Ireland) Limited operates as an advertising intermediary that places national and regional ads across many Irish newspaper titles — including those owned by Formpress.
Formpress’s close association with Mediaforce (Ireland) Limited creates a potential conflict of interest which has been noted by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
When Formpress sought to acquire the Midland Tribune in 2019, the CCPC considered the implications of Mediaforce’s role as “a conduit for advertising agencies to channel national advertising spend to local/regional newspaper and digital newspaper titles in the State”. Although the CCPC found that the bulk of local press advertising revenues came from local businesses, it nonetheless concluded that 10-20% of advertising revenues came from national advertisers and advertising agencies and thus were mediated through Mediaforce Ireland. The CCPC noted Mediaforce’s very strong position in channelling national advertising to local/regional/digital newspapers in Ireland and Mediaforce’s direct ownership of local/regional/digital titles concluding that there was a risk that “Mediaforce will have the ability and incentive to foreclose its local/regional newspaper competitors”.
To address this concern, Formpress and Mediaforce submitted proposals to the CCPC including non-discrimination commitments and separation of management and non-disclosure of information commitments. The CCPS expressed the view that the Proposals were “appropriate and effective to address the competition concerns identified”.
Formpress has continued to acquire local titles throughout the period since 2014 including the ten titles owned by River Media in 2018, then Midland Tribune (2019), Mayo News (2022), the Inishowen Independent (2024) and the Connaught Tribune (2025). As of early 2026 it controls and operates approximately 20 local and regional newspaper titles and their associated online news sites. As such, it now accounts for one quarter of paid-for local titles in Ireland. This represents a considerable consolidation of ownership and notably, the CCPC has approved every post-2014 additional to Formpress’s stable of titles.
Formpress has been criticised for the amalgamation of editorial divisions and making staff redundant during the pandemic. This included complaints from the National Union of Journalists in Ireland (NUJ), who have called for more rigorous scrutiny of Mediaforce acquisitions in Ireland by the Government and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CPCC).
By the end of 2024, the company reported a turnover increase to about €12.3m (up from €11.7 million in 2023) and pretax profits of nearly €1.7 million, up roughly 54% on the previous year — a sign of resilience in a challenging industry. Notably, however, employment across the group has declined – from 169 in 2015 to 142 in 2024 - even as additional titles have been added to the roster pointing to a degree of “rationalisation” at a personnel level. remained steady, with more than 140 people working on average across its titles.
