Dublin Inquirer

What Dublin Inquirer does

Dublin Inquirer is an independent, subscriber-funded local newspaper serving Dublin, Ireland, founded in 2015 by Lois Kapila and Sam Tranum. The publication delivers original local journalism covering city council, housing, transport, environment, arts, and immigrant life, publishing online on Wednesdays and Fridays with a monthly print edition. It is structured as a privately held, for-profit media company with a small newsroom of 1–10 staff and no disclosed institutional investors or parent company.

The company operates on the Ghost CMS platform using the Maali theme, and has extended its editorial scope into civic technology through four proprietary tools: the Council Vote Tracker (searchable database of councillor votes), the No-Show Bus Tracker (citizen-reported ghost bus incidents), the Active Travel Collision Tracker (crowd-sourced cycling and pedestrian hazard reporting across Ireland), and the Neighbourhood Mapping Project (collaborative boundary mapping built with CivicTech.ie). These tools generate structured local-government and transit datasets that feed back into editorial coverage and are built in collaboration with partners including Orbiter, IrishCycle.com, Tripe + Drisheen, and CivicTech.ie.

Dublin Inquirer's revenue model is primarily subscription and membership recurring revenue, supplemented by a secondary advertising stream and merchandise. Distribution spans the dublininquirer.com website, RSS, Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram, WhatsApp, and a monthly print edition. The customer base is the general Dublin reading public and civic-engaged citizens, with no enterprise customers or named B2B accounts.

Name

Dublin Inquirer

Legal name

Dublin Inquirer

Website

https://dublininquirer.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Dublin Inquirer is an independent, subscriber-funded local newspaper in Dublin, Ireland, founded in 2015, covering city council, housing, transport, environment, arts, and immigrant life for general Dublin readers and civic-engaged citizens.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Digital News

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAJADAB

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/News Publishing (Newspapers, Digital Newsrooms, Wire Services)

SECONDARYMPAJAMAF

Online Article & Blog Publishing Platforms

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Digital Publishing Platforms (E-books & Online Articles)

SECONDARYMPAJADAK

Data Journalism & News Intelligence Publishers (Indexes, Election/Market Data)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/News Publishing (Newspapers, Digital Newsrooms, Wire Services)

Keywords

• Local journalism
• Independent newspaper
• Civic technology
• Subscription news
• Community reporting

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription/Membership Revenue: Primarily subscriber-funded newspaper generating revenue through paid memberships and subscriptions. Operates with a membership page, subscription FAQs, and various membership tiers.
2. Advertising: The company has an 'Advertise with us' page, indicating advertising as a secondary revenue stream.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Dublin Inquirer is an independent, primarily subscriber-funded newspaper that publishes local Dublin news covering city council, housing, transport, environment, culture, and immigrant life. Content is published online on Wednesdays and Fridays and in a monthly print edition. The publication also develops and maintains civic technology tools, including the Council Vote Tracker, No-Show Bus Tracker, Active Travel Collision Tracker, and Neighbourhood Mapping Project, to enable citizen engagement and accountability reporting.

Product overview

Dublin Inquirer operates as an independent news organization with its core offering being the Dublin Inquirer newspaper (online and print). The publication has developed several civic-technology projects including the No-Show Bus Tracker for documenting ghost buses and cancelled services, the Active Travel Collision Tracker for road safety reporting, the Council Vote Tracker for monitoring local government voting records, and the Neighbourhood Mapping Project for boundary mapping. These digital tools are built and maintained in collaboration with partners such as Orbiter and CivicTech.ie.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dublin Inquirer (Online & Print Newspaper) An independent, subscriber-funded local newspaper covering Dublin city council, housing, transport, environment, culture, and immigrant life. Published online on Wednesdays and Fridays and in a monthly print edition for subscribers and general Dublin readers.
• No-Show Bus Tracker A citizen-reporting tool that allows Dublin bus users to document and track ghost buses and cancelled bus services to gather independent data on transit reliability issues. Available to Dublin commuters and the public.
• Active Travel Collision Tracker A crowd-sourced reporting platform for cyclists and pedestrians to report hazards, near-collisions, and collisions anywhere in Ireland to help improve road safety. Built in collaboration with Orbiter, with monitoring by IrishCycle.com and Tripe + Drisheen journalists.
• Council Vote Tracker An online database allowing citizens to browse how Dublin city councillors voted on issues, searchable by councillor, meeting, or topic area. Provides transparency on local government decision-making for Dublin residents and civic researchers.
• Neighbourhood Mapping Project

Quantifiable outcome

• Provides regular coverage across transport (391+ articles), housing, environment, culture, and local government
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• IrishCycle.comminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 February 2024IrishCycle.com collaborates with Dublin Inquirer on the Active Travel Collision Tracker. Journalists at IrishCycle.com monitor reports gathered by the tracker.
• Tripe + DrisheenminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 February 2024Tripe + Drisheen partners with Dublin Inquirer on the Active Travel Collision Tracker project. Their journalists also monitor collision reports.
• CivicTech.iecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 November 2021CivicTech.ie partnered with Dublin Inquirer to bring the Neighbourhood Mapping Project online. Emmet Ó Briain and CivicTech.ie developed the online tool for citizens to draw Dublin neighbourhood boundaries.
• GhostcoreTechnology or IntegrationDublin Inquirer is published with Ghost CMS platform, a publishing platform for independent news organizations.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Local: Network of independent digital news sites covering major European cities with subscription revenue and English-language audiences; the closest international analogue to Dublin Inquirer's hyperlocal subscriber-funded model.
• The Journal: Ireland's largest digital-first news outlet covering politics, local affairs and civic stories with both advertising and subscription revenue; competes for the same Dublin reader attention and advertiser spend as Dublin Inquirer.
• Noteworthy: Irish investigative journalism platform using reader-funded model and data-driven reporting; shares Dublin Inquirer's mission of accountability journalism and subscriber support, with similar team size.
• Dublin Live: Reach plc-owned Dublin-focused news site covering local news, traffic and lifestyle; targets the same Dublin geographic readership and advertiser pool but relies on a free, ad-funded model rather than subscriptions.
• CityMetric: Urban-focused digital media outlet covering cities, transport, housing and policy in the UK and beyond; comparable coverage beats (transport, housing, civic policy) but operates at multi-city scale rather than single-city depth.

Broad incumbents

• Irish Independent: Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper covering Dublin news as part of a national portfolio; provides scale and brand recognition Dublin Inquirer lacks but with much broader (less local) editorial focus.
• The Irish Times: Ireland's national newspaper of record with a paid digital subscription model and local Dublin coverage; broader and better-resourced incumbent whose subscription pricing constrains Dublin Inquirer's pricing power.

Emerging players

• Broadsheet.ie: Irish independent digital outlet covering Dublin culture, food, lifestyle and local affairs; partial overlap with Dublin Inquirer's culture and city-desk coverage but lifestyle-oriented rather than civic-journalism led.
• Fora: Irish digital media startup covering business, tech and policy with a paid newsletter/subscription model; comparable as a small, subscription-first Irish independent newsroom.
• The Currency: Irish subscriber-funded investigative business and finance outlet; comparable in business model (membership-supported independent journalism) but covers business rather than local civic affairs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DublinInquirer
• Facebookfacebook.com/dublininquirer
• Instagraminstagram.com/dublininquirer
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dublin-inquirer

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 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 Dublin Inquirer