Opinion

Introducing the brand new IrishNews.com

 Irish News
 Irish News  Irish News

Hello and a warm welcome to the all-new Irishnews.com  

The Irish News is one of the UK and Ireland’s oldest and most successful regional newspapers. Our team in Belfast have been squirrelling away to produce a digital offering that has everything you would expect from the print edition of the newspaper and a whole lot more.

We're committed to our readers and this next step underlines that commitment to you and to future readers. We wanted to make it easier for you to access our unrivalled journalism wherever and whenever you want it.

The website is responsive meaning no matter what way you access irishnews.com - from your desktop, tablet, laptop or phone - we’ve worked to ensure you see the best version of the website.

Wherever you are and whatever device you are using you can access breaking news, read your favourite columnists or finish the crossword. The paper will always be at your fingertips.

It's still about content...

But let's face it, no matter how cutting-edge our web design is, our readers are interested in having access to the best content. Only now that the site has launched will we really start to find out what exactly you like and dislike. Feedback is vital to us and we'll tweak the site to reflect your requirements and requests.

To new readers, near and far, you’re very welcome. Please let us know if there’s anything you feel could make your experience on IrishNews.com even better.

How did we get here?

The advent of the internet means that the Irish News has, like pretty much every other newspaper publisher in the developed world, grappled with how to adapt and respond to this rapid period of technological change. A revolution no less.

And grapple is the best way to describe it. Publishers invested huge resources in the digital side of things and faced the reality that digital advertising revenues fall short of making up for the shortfall exposed by declining newspaper sales.

We hope that helps explain why we have decided to retain a paywall. It is free until July 28th. After that we offer 10 free articles a month before asking that you pay to access our content.

Quality journalism costs money to produce and we have made it great value with a combination of print and online packages from just £4.49 per week or 64p a day.

This website has been a long time in the making (some of you might say a long time in the coming). While our old website served a purpose we didn't give it the love and attention that it needed. It was past its sell by date.

But now we're back with a smarter, more beautiful website  that looks to the future as much as we hope our reporting does. It’ll be a lot more fun for you to read and explore.

We trust the wait has been worth it.

We value your thoughts and opinions and would be delighted to hear your feedback. Please email us at feedback@irishnews.com.

What's new?

Now, here’s the part where we get to brag about the exciting technical improvements our developers have spent the past year packing into the new website.

Feel free to zone out if you are a proud technophobe but if you want to know more about what we are offering  then stay with me.  

I've mentioned the website is responsive. Our design team, a New York-based company called ICC, spent months conceiving a system that would look good on any device.

Then we tasked D Share, an experienced digital company focused on technologies for publishers, to build the website. The content management system, ie: the tool that controls the website, is Kolumbus.

The website will feature multimedia content coming from our own team, from partners and from user generated content. You will also be able to share articles and photogalleries on your own social media accounts and quickly search through two years' worth of archived content.

The new site is a cleaner take on the old website, with more white space and bolder photographs. We are also introducing a new and improved ePaper - the digital replica of the printed newspaper.

On the way are new mobile and tablet apps. Until then you will retain access through our existing apps.

We’re now thrilled to point at Irishnews.com and say, “yes, we built that!”

A taste of what's new in IrishNews.com:

  • For those of you who love our puzzles pages we have hundreds of crosswords, suduko, codewords and puzzles for you to binge on
  • A page dedicated to Ian Knox's  political cartoons and the chance to buy them
  • Enhanced sports coverage with video, live stats, photo galleries, live blogs from GAA matches and in-depth reports and analysis from our award winning journalists
  • Political commentary and analysis
  • Breaking news, weather and insight from our Liveblog
  • Business news, comment and analysis and live markets data
  • Videos of our journalists’ interviews with leading opinion makers in the worlds of politics, arts and education
  • Real life and parenting news and features

Thanks for staying with me and I look forward to hearing from you.

Susan Thompson

feedback@irishnews.com

  • Susan joined the Irish News to launch this website and manage content across desktops, tablets and mobiles. She was previously at The Times (London not Dublin) for seven years as a financial journalist and online editor