The longest serving daily newspaper editor in the UK and Ireland is preparing to step down.
Noel Doran has been at the helm of the Northern Ireland-based daily newspaper the Irish News for 25 years.
He will depart the post early next year having overseen the production of more than 7,000 editions of the paper, but is set to continue a close association with the paper.
Doran first joined the Irish News in 1993 and was appointed editor in 1999.
During his tenure the paper has scooped scores of UK and regional awards in recognition of its “consistent top-level content”, while Mr Doran was himself voted regional editor of the century in 2020 by readers of the Hold The Front Page website.
The Irish News is currently the UK’s second best-selling regional daily newspaper.
Dominic Fitzpatrick, chief executive, IntoMedia Group said Mr Doran has “left an indelible mark on the paper’s legacy”.
“It has been a privilege to work alongside him and I am certain he will look back on his extensive track record here with a sense of enormous pride,” he said.
Doran commented: “It has been a great honour to edit The Irish News for the last quarter of a century and help to chronicle the changes which have swept across our society since the Good Friday Agreement.
“I have been very fortunate to work with many outstanding journalists who have rightly earned the trust of our loyal readers, and I am particularly grateful for the unstinting support of our chief executive Dominic Fitzpatrick, and his late father, our chairman Jim Fitzpatrick, throughout my time with the paper.”
