Outlet profile

Irish Times

Irish center-left, liberal-progressive

Owned byThe Irish Times Trust (a non-charitable trust), which owns The Irish Times DAC (Designated Activity Company); governed by 11 unpaid Governors who cannot receive dividends

FundingPrimarily subscriptions — as of December 2025, the paper announced its journalism is fully funded by subscribers for the first time; also carries advertising revenue

On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

The Irish Times was founded on March 29, 1859, by Lawrence E. Knox, a 22-year-old army officer, as a moderate Protestant and broadly nationalist paper in Dublin. After Knox's death in 1873, the Arnott family purchased it and steered it toward Irish unionism, a position it held through Irish independence in 1921. It was forced to reconcile itself with the new Irish state, and over subsequent decades shifted toward liberal and pro-European editorial stances, becoming a leading voice for secularism and civil liberties in Ireland from the 1950s onward. The paper's editorship was reserved for Anglo-Irish Protestants from its founding until 1986. In 1974, control was transferred to the non-profit Irish Times Trust — modeled on The Guardian Media Group — to insulate the paper from commercial or political takeover; profits must be reinvested in publishing operations. Controversies include its description of the 1916 Easter Rising as a 'criminal adventure' and historically cautious coverage of Northern Ireland. By the 21st century, it had settled into a broadly center-left, socially liberal, and strongly pro-EU orientation. In December 2025 it became, by its own account, the first major Irish daily to have its journalism fully funded by digital and print subscribers.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-07-10; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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