You are what you read...

For Irish people this means that a million of us are the Sunday Independent, well once a week at least. Not surprisingly, the Sunday Independent far outsells all its indigenous and foreign competitors each week. Over the past decade there actually has been little to no change. A decade ago the Sunday Independent's circulation was 276,212 and now it sells 291,036. Over the period it has enjoyed highs of 342,000, but overall, compared to a decade ago, sales have only grown by 14,824. So everything has changed, but somehow remained the same.

So if nothing has changed what has been happening for the past decade? Print advertising spend has jumped from 174 million back in 1995 to a very healthy 929 million in 2004 – that's a massive 432 per cent increase. While Ireland's inflation is high, it didn't quite reach those lofty figures.

The indigenous titles have experienced little change over the decade with the Sunday Business Post gaining approximately 20,000 (admittedly a significant per centage growth given their low base) and the Sunday Tribune getting 4,000 more. The Sunday Times has managed to almost double its circulation with its revamp into an Irish newspaper over the years.

Of course the greatest change came in early 1995, when the Irish Press Group (three titles) fell by the wayside. Most of the Sunday title's circulation went to the Sunday Independent, which appears to have since squandered its early lead; the winners appear to have been the Sunday Times and, since 1997, Ireland on Sunday.

UK titles now account for just over a third of all Sunday titles' sales and likewise for the dailies. It is sometimes startling to realise that the Irish Sun is the second-highest selling daily newspaper and the News of the World is the third-largest selling Sunday paper in Ireland at in excess of 164,000 each week – admittedly still some way from the highest circulation of 3.8 million it enjoys in the UK.

So, if nothing has changed what has been happening for the past decade? Print advertising spend has jumped from 174 million back in 1995 to a very healthy 929 million in 2004 – that's a massive 432 per cent increase. While reland's inflation has been high in recent times, it didn't quite reach those lofty figures.

New titles have come and limped away; remember the short-lived Dublin Daily and the Stars on Sunday? Gone now to the brave newspapers' graveyard in the sky. Publishers are less ambitious now. They launch to niche markets or find gaps in the market, rather than tackling the big boys with their big bucks head-on.

Everyday we sit and nonchalantly await the arrival of Metro, our very own Irish version of the respectable free-sheet available in major cities throughout Europe. The title's launch has been shrouded in secrecy for so long that I've lost the will to live and have moved over to the other side. It is to be printed by The Irish Times (some 70,000 copies each day) and sold by the Associated Press (who currently sell Ireland on Sunday). Irish freesheets do not have as credible a history as paid-for titles. There is always the fear that they are used to wipe muddy feet or line the cat basket. And since many of them do not have audited circulation and none has independent readership data, they come into the fight for advertising money with one hand tied behind their back. Metro is looking to change all this and I presume it is hoping to cannibalise rather than grow the market. Its main objective (bearing in mind that they won't talk to me) is to steal readers from the Irish Independent's compact edition and more worryingly for the Independent Group from the Evening Herald.

Of course, the English invasion continues with the recently resized (now in Berliner size) Daily Mail which is launching an Irish edition in the New Year. Its current Irish circulation is just under ten thousand so, as my maths teacher used to say, they will have to work harder.

One area that has seen steady growth is culture-specific titles, that is, titles aimed at the immigrant population. There is the Emerald Star and the newly-launched Metro Eireann (nothing to do with the waiting-for-with-bated-breath Metro from Associated Press). A personal favourite is the Polska Gazette – I just love the name. These titles will fight their own battles for direct advertisers.

But the real fun over the next six months will be waiting to see the national titles' response to the Metro freesheet launch. Let's see who is still standing in February 2006.

Nuala Long is Director of MCM Communications Ltd