THE Newry Reporter has thanked readers for their support after the paper was saved from closure just days before the final edition was to be published.
Instead of saying goodbye, editor Paul Welsh said thank you on yesterday’s front page after “an emotional rollercoaster” for everyone at the paper.
One of the oldest weekly newspapers in Northern Ireland, it was announced earlier this month that publication would cease after 155 years.
Staff who expected to lose their jobs had continued to work on the last paper before learning on Friday that a new owner had been agreed.
National World also owns the News Letter and other weekly titles in the former Morton Newspaper Group, including the UIster Star, Portadown Times and Mid-Ulster Mail.
In yesterday’s editorial, Mr Welsh said staff had resigned themselves to the reality of closure and working on a bumper final edition.
“To all those who contacted the paper and staff in whatever way, with messages of support and goodwill following our closure announcement, and the news we had been saved, on behalf of everyone at the Newry Reporter, many, many thanks.
“We were truly humbled and will be forever grateful.”
Inside the paper, a feature in Ulster Scots, English and Irish recalled how Newry’s reaction to Queen Elizabeth’s coronation 70 years ago that included both 10 miles of royal bunting as well as republicans bombing the Savoy Cinema to stop a screening of a coronation film.
The paper added: “The Newry Reporter will still be around, thankfully, to report on the local response to the coronation of King Charles III.”
Founded in 1867, the Newry Reporter was owned by the Hodgett family for almost a century.
In a statement, National World said the Reporter’s long heritage in Newry and the Mournes provided “a key opportunity” to grow the business in Northern Ireland.
