Denis O'Brien backs multicultural newspaper

Metro Éireann, Ireland's only multicultural newspaper, will be available nationwide from Thursday 26 October.

The newspaper was set up in April 2000 by editor Chinedu Onyejelem and Abel Ugba as a monthly publication for the greater Dublin area. It will now be available weekly across the country.

The venture is backed by businessman Denis O'Brien and the Irish Times.

The new 32-page format will include sections or pull-outs for the Polish, Romanian, Filipino, Indian and, eventually, Chinese communities every week. It currently has a circulation of 15,000 and publishes articles in English as well as in Irish and French. Over time it hopes to expand to include articles in other minority languages such as Polish and Romanian.

Writer Roddy Doyle, Fine Gael MEP Simon Coveney and Labour Councillor and Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin Aodhán Ó Riordáin have been enlisted to write columns.

"Our readers have always expressed an interest in reading Metro Éireann weekly, but financially it hasn't been possibly until now," says Onyejelem.

"We'll have something for all nationalities but are mostly targeting the top six or seven nationalities in Ireland. There isn't a group that we don't have contacts with in Ireland."

A distribution deal has been agreed with Easons, who will distribute Metro Éireann to newsagents across the country.

Helene Hofman