Pressure of Truth
Exposing the spin on all sides of the news.
Outlet profile

Irish Times

Irish center-left / liberal-establishment

Owned byOwned by The Irish Times Trust (a trust set up in 1974). It has no individual or corporate shareholders. The Trust owns The Irish Times DAC, the parent of the Irish Times Group, which also includes the Irish Examiner.
FundingMainly reader revenue. Press Gazette reported in early 2026 that subscriptions now fully fund the newspaper's journalism, with roughly 150,000 print and digital subscribers across the group. The rest comes from advertising and other commercial income. Profits are reinvested rather than paid out to shareholders.
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

The paper was founded in Dublin in 1859 by Major Lawrence Knox. For much of its early history it spoke for the Protestant, unionist and Anglo-Irish establishment. It was bought by the Walker family in 1873 and later by the Arnott family. Editor Douglas Gageby (1963–74 and 1977–86) is widely credited with turning it into a liberal, pluralist paper that engaged seriously with nationalist and Catholic Ireland. In 1974 the Arnott family arranged for ownership to pass to a trust to protect editorial independence. The Irish Times Group later expanded commercially, buying the Irish Examiner in 2018, though it also faced financial strain in the 2000s and early 2010s. The paper has been criticized over the 1999 'Mrs Rogers' hoax interview? No documented case is cited here. Its better-documented controversies include a 2008-era row over a boardroom financial crisis and debate about the Trust's governance. Today it is regarded as Ireland's 'paper of record', with a centrist-to-liberal, pro-European editorial line and an opinion section that includes a range of columnists. On the Trump administration, its 2026 editorials, such as those on the July tariffs, the Greenland ambitions and the September visit to Ireland, have been critical in tone, while its news reporting also covers the White House's statements, such as Trump saying he would 'love' to see a united Ireland.

Sources

  1. Irish Times journalism now fully funded by subscribers - Press Gazette
  2. The Irish Times - Wikipedia
  3. Irish Times Trust - Media Ownership Monitor Ireland
  4. Message from the Editor: A year freighted with uncertainty
  5. The Irish Times view on Trump's visit: a less than welcome guest
  6. The Irish Times view on Trump's latest tariffs: trade tensions roll on
  7. The Irish Times view on the US and Greenland: Trump's territorial ambitions

Profile compiled 2026-10-09; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

← Back to track record