For the Australian paper, see Sunday Press

Sunday Press

The Sunday Press was a weekend tabloid newspaper printed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1973 until 1989. It was Melbourne's second Sunday newspaper, the first being the Melbourne observer....

The Sunday Press was a weekly newspaper published in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 from 1949 until 1995. It was launched by Éamon de Valera

Éamon de Valera

Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...

's Irish Press group following the defeat of his Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

 party in the Irish general election, 1948

Irish general election, 1948

The Irish general election of 1948 was held on 4 February 1948. The 147 newly elected members of the 13th Dáil assembled on 18 February when the First Inter-Party government in the history of the Irish state was appointed....

. Like its sister newspaper, the daily Irish Press, politically the paper loyally supported Fianna Fáil.

The future Taoiseach Seán Lemass

Seán Lemass

Seán Francis Lemass was one of the most prominent Irish politicians of the 20th century. He served as Taoiseach from 1959 until 1966....

 was the managing editor of the Irish press who spearheaded the launch of the Sunday paper, with the first editor Colonel Matt Feehan. Many of the Irish Press journalists contributed to the paper. 'When I open the pages, I duck' was Brendan Behan

Brendan Behan

Brendan Francis Behan was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army.-Early life:...

’s description of reading the Sunday Press, for the habit of published memoirs of veterans (usually those aligned to Fianna Fáil) of the War of Independence.

It soon built up a large readership, and overtook its main competitor the Sunday Independent

Sunday Independent

The Sunday Independent is a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published in Ireland by Independent News and Media plc. The newspaper is edited by Aengus Fanning, and is the biggest selling Irish Sunday newspaper by a large margin ; average circulation of 291,323 between June 2004 and January 2005,...

, which tended to support Fine Gael

Fine Gael

Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

. At its peak the Sunday Press sold up to 475,000 copies every week, and had a readership of over one million, around one third of the Irish population.

Like the Evening Press

Evening Press

The Evening Press was an Irish newspaper which was printed from 1954 until 1995. It was set up by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group, and was originally edited by Douglas Gageby...

, the paper's readership held up better over the years than that of the flagship title in the group, the Irish Press, and it might have survived as a stand alone title had it been sold. However with the collapse of the Irish Press Newspapers group in May 1995, all three titles ceased publication immediately. The launch of Ireland on Sunday

Ireland on Sunday

Ireland on Sunday was a Sunday newspaper in the Republic of Ireland, published by Associated Newspapers Ireland Limited, a subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc...

in 1997 was initially interpreted by many observers as an attempt to appeal to the former Sunday Press readership, seen as generally rural, fairly conservative Catholic, and with a traditional Irish nationalist political outlook.