Northern Standard to cease publication in Monaghan

The Northern Standard has announced that it will print its final edition next week ending a near 200-year history in County Monaghan.

Owned by the Smyth family, the paper has been covering news largely in the Farney County for 186 years.

The owners, one of the few remaining family-owned newspapers in the country, confirmed the closure on their front page today (Thursday).

Next Thursday, December 18th, will be the last Northern Standard to be published.

The paper confirmed this morning: “It is with great sadness that the management of The Northern Standard Ltd announce that the final edition of the newspaper to be published in 2025, on December 18 next, will also be our last."

The decision, they say, is due to a "steady decline in readership and advertising in recent years".

It continues: "As the consumption of news has increasingly shifted to online media, print newspapers have struggled to compete with digital platforms and social media outlets.

“The challenging circumstances created by this radically altered and irreversible commercial environment has seen The Northern Standard struggle to sustain its long-term viability. The point has been reached where the regrettable decision to cease publication has been taken."

The Northern Standard is the longest established newspaper circulating in County Monaghan, having published its first issue on January 10, 1839.

The prominent Irish nationalist Charles Gavan Duffy briefly served as the newspaper's editor shortly after its founding.

In 1872, the newspaper was purchased by the Swan family, who ran it until 1924.

Paddy Smyth later took over the stewardship, becoming its proprietor and editor and the paper has remained in the Smyth family since.

It concludes: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have contributed to the publication over the years. We are deeply grateful to our businesses and organisations who have supported us. We are deeply thankful to our readership who, each week, afforded us the cherished privilege of admitting us into their homes.

“We have always endeavoured to repay the support of our advertisers and readers with the highest possible quality of service and have been successful in that goal.”

Linda O'Reilly, Managing Editor of The Anglo-Celt, which also circulates in County Monaghan, says the team is saddened to hear the news today.

"As news publishers, who value journalism and the importance of a community newspaper, we hate to hear of any title closing.

"Our thoughts today are with the Smyth family, the staff and the wider community in Monaghan.

"It's so important for a community to have a strong news publisher, which represents the interests and reflects the views of its people - be that through courts, reports from local authority meetings, sports coverage, photography or local news.

"Cavan and Monaghan are naturally aligned - the Education and Training Board is common, the hospital group, the garda division, the constituency - and both are proud, rural border counties.

"Celtic Media Group, our parent company, will reflect on how The Anglo-Celt can reposition itself to enhance coverage in County Monaghan, while continuing our proud tradition of serving the people in County Cavan in print, online and across multiple platforms, as we have done since 1846."