Westmeath Independent

What Westmeath Independent does

Westmeath Independent is a regional Irish newspaper founded in 1846 and published every Wednesday morning, serving the greater Athlone region covering South Westmeath, South Roscommon, West Offaly, Ballinasloe and surrounding areas. It is owned by CMNL Limited (Company Number 585944), part of the Celtic Media Group conglomerate that also controls The Anglo Celt, Connaught Telegraph, Meath Chronicle, Offaly Independent, and Westmeath Examiner. The publication operates a multi-platform model combining the weekly print edition with a free-to-view daily-updated website, an ePaper digital edition delivered via PageSuite's HTML5 reader, a Print2Web classifieds/marketplace, syndicated national content from Press Association, and themed supplements.

The underlying technology stack centres on the InfoMaker CMS hosted at ew.cmg.infomaker.io, with a Pagesuite integration for digital edition delivery and a standard digital advertising infrastructure comprising Google DFP, Converge Digital, Tan Media, Google Tag Manager, and Google Analytics. The publication monetises through five core revenue streams: print display advertising, digital advertising (banners and sponsored content), classifieds/marketplace transactions, recruitment advertising, and sponsored editorial content, with an additional historical archive subscription service operated via Irish News Archive. Customer segmentation is geography-driven, with two primary audiences: local community readers seeking hyperlocal news, sport, courts, and entertainment, and local SMB advertisers, recruiters, and organisations seeking regional reach. The publication is GDPR-compliant, adheres to the Press Council of Ireland code of practice, and is working towards WCAG Priority 2 accessibility compliance.

Name

Westmeath Independent

Legal name

CMNL Limited

Website

https://westmeathindependent.ie

Company type

Private

Founded year

1846

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Westmeath Independent is a regional Irish weekly newspaper, founded 1846, covering the greater Athlone region (South Westmeath, South Roscommon, West Offaly, Ballinasloe). It delivers print, website, and ePaper editions, monetised through local advertising, classifieds, recruitment, and sponsored editorial.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (51311), Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Alternative/Independent Newsweeklies & Opinion Press (MPAJADAH)

Keywords

• Regional newspaper
• Local news
• Print journalism
• Classified advertising
• Community news media

Headquarters

HQ city

Athlone

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Print Advertising: Display advertising space sold in weekly print edition to local businesses, retailers, and service providers
2. Digital Advertising: Banner advertisements, sponsored content, and display ads on website and ePaper platforms
3. Classifieds and Marketplace: Job vacancies, family notices, property listings, and general classified advertisements
4. Recruitment Advertising: Dedicated recruitment section for job advertisements targeting local employment market
5. Sponsored Editorial Content: Paid promotional content and sponsored articles from local businesses and organizations

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Westmeath Independent is a regional Irish newspaper publishing a weekly print edition every Wednesday, accompanied by a continuously updated news website, a PageSuite-powered ePaper digital edition, and a Marketplace/Classifieds platform. It covers the greater Athlone region including South Westmeath, South Roscommon, West Offaly and Ballinasloe, delivering local news, sport, entertainment, court reports, and local politics, and sells display, recruitment, and sponsored editorial advertising to local businesses.

Product overview

Westmeath Independent operates as a multi-platform local news media company offering both print and digital products. The core offering consists of a weekly print newspaper published every Wednesday, complemented by a comprehensive news website, ePaper digital edition via Pagesuite, and a Marketplace/Classifieds platform. Additional services include a newspaper archive subscription, themed supplements, and photo galleries. The company primarily serves the greater Athlone region covering South Westmeath, South Roscommon, West Offaly, Ballinasloe and surrounding areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Westmeath Independent Weekly Newspaper
• Westmeath Independent Website Free-to-view online news portal providing local news, sport, entertainment, courts, local politics, photo galleries, and syndicated national and international content, with advertising space sold to local businesses.
• ePaper Digital Edition Digital replica of the weekly print edition accessible online through the PageSuite HTML5 reader, allowing subscribers to read the newspaper on any device, including themed supplements.
• Marketplace / Classifieds Online and print classifieds section (Print2Web) hosting job vacancies, family notices, recruitment advertising, property listings, and general classifieds for local advertisers and the community.
• Newspaper Archive Subscription Subscription service providing access to historical editions of the Westmeath Independent via the Irish News Archive platform, covering nearly 180 years of local reporting.
• Sponsored Editorial Content Paid editorial-style promotional articles and sponsored content placed alongside editorial coverage, sold to local businesses and organizations seeking native reach.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Feature3 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Anglo Celt: Sister title under Celtic Media Group, operating as a weekly regional newspaper in the Irish midlands/north-east. Shares parent ownership, technology stack, and the same print + digital + classifieds business model.
• Connaught Telegraph: Fellow Celtic Media Group title serving the Connaught region with a comparable weekly newspaper + digital offering. Directly comparable in audience size, revenue mix, and product portfolio.
• Connacht Tribune: Independent regional weekly newspaper serving the west of Ireland, operating a comparable print + digital + classifieds model for a defined regional audience. Strong structural comparable for Irish regional newspaper economics.
• Offaly Independent: Sister publication within Celtic Media Group, also an Independent-branded weekly serving an adjacent midlands county. Overlapping advertiser base, near-identical product mix, and shared parent infrastructure.
• Kilkenny People: Long-established weekly regional Irish newspaper serving Kilkenny and surrounding counties with print, digital, and classifieds. Comparable in audience scale, multi-channel model, and 19th-century heritage.
• Meath Chronicle: Another regional Irish weekly newspaper published within the same Celtic Media Group portfolio, sharing the same CMS, revenue model, and advertiser base. Most direct comparable in scale, model, and operating geography type.
• Westmeath Examiner: Competing weekly local newspaper covering the same Westmeath/Athlone region. Most direct head-to-head competitive comparable, fighting for the same local advertisers and readers in the same geography.

Broad incumbents

• The Irish Times: Ireland's national broadsheet with a successful digital subscription model. Competes for the same advertiser pool (national and regional) and increasingly for digital reader attention in the same geography.
• Irish Examiner: National Irish daily newspaper operating in print and digital with substantially larger scale. Overlaps in advertising sales, recruitment classifieds, and regional news coverage, but is a broader portfolio play rather than a hyperlocal specialist.
• RTÉ: Ireland's national public broadcaster with a large digital newsroom and regional reporting. Competes for local news audience attention and digital ad inventory at a national scale, though it is not a direct print newspaper competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/westmeathindependent/?hl=en
• Facebookfacebook.com/westmeathindependent
• Xx.com/westmeathindo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/westmeath-independent

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Westmeath Independent