Alan English appointed as new editor of the Sunday Independent

Senior editorial executive Alan English has been announced as the new editor of the Sunday Independent.

Alan has been Group Editorial Director with regional media group Iconic Newspapers since 2016 and previous to that served as Editor of the Limerick Leader for nine years.

Alan takes over from Cormac Bourke as Editor of the Sunday Independent. Mr Bourke was appointed Editor of the Irish Independent and independent.ie last year.

The Sunday Independent is part of the Independent News and Media (INM) group.

Peter Vandermeersch, Publisher at INM, welcomed Alan’s appointment.

“I am very much looking forward to working with Alan,” said Mr Vandermeersch. “Alan is a superlative journalist and editor and I believe he has the abilities and leadership skills to lead the Sunday Independent into the future. As well as refreshing the printed newspaper, Alan will also ensure that the Sunday Independent’s journalism plays a key role in our digital future.”

A key part of this digital future is the launch of subscriptions on independent.ie on February 11.

“More than 150,000 people pay for the Sunday Independent every week and now they will have the opportunity to pay for this journalism online as well,” said Mr Vandermeersch.

As well as working in senior roles in regional newspapers, Mr English worked as a senior journalist and sports editor in London for British newspaper The Sunday Times. 

He is a graduate of the University of Limerick and is also the author of five best-selling rugby books, including the autobiographies of Paul O’Connell and Brian O’Driscoll, which were Ireland’s two biggest selling sports books of the last decade.

“It’s a huge honour to be appointed the Sunday Independent’s next Editor,” Mr English said. 

“The newspaper is an important part of Irish life and I’m really looking forward to working with some of the best journalists in the country.”

INM is the largest newspaper publisher on the island of Ireland and is a subsidiary of Belgian group Mediahuis, which has extensive media interests in Belgium and the Netherlands, including market-leading newspapers such as De Telegraaf, NRC Handelsblad and De Standaard.