Metro Ireland and Herald AM, two rival Dublin freesheets, have merged to create Metro Herald, a new morning freesheet.

Metro Herald is launched today and will be distributed every weekday morning within the Dublin area, targeting young professional workers. Its expected distribution is 65,000 copies a day.

The new title is jointly owned by Associated Newspapers, The Irish Times and Independent News & Media, who all have an equal share in the company. Previously, Associated Newspapers, Irish Times and Sweden’s Metro International all had stakes in Metro Ireland while Independent News and Media owned Herald AM.

The merger was proposed last July and accepted after a full investigation was carried out by the Competition Authority in November.

Metro Ireland’s managing director, Paul Crosbie, takes up the same role at the newly launched paper.

Metro Herald will be added to the FeaturesExec media database shortly.

[lnk|http://www.featuresexec.com/publications/info_outlet.php?pubid=8700|_self|Metro Ireland]
[lnk|http://www.featuresexec.com/publications/info_outlet.php?pubid=12048|_self|Herald AM]