I heard that Metro (the Associated Press publication, you've probably seen it as a commuter in other cities) was going to be coming out here. I also heard there was going to be a new fashion/scene/music free sheet coming, but as far as I've heard, it has nothing to do with the Indo or Times. What you've said there is the first piece of information RE: involvement of those two parties I've come across.

Their current publications 'the ticket' and 'day and night' wouldn't need many changes to qualify as music mags similar to event guide or totally dublin.

That's what I thought but just a rumour I heard.

The Ticket is sometimes around Tower anyway as a freebie

Metro is coming out in the next week or two. Free sheet given out to commuters. Already available all over London. Daily Mail own it. The Evening Herald will release an Evening Herald 'Lite' to head off the competition. It'll be out in the morning and then withdrawn in the afternoon. Next few months should be interesting.

So what will the Metro be? And is it only available to people getting the train?

Metro is a NEWSpaper, with emphasis on the news. But there's a bit of sport and entertainment too. I've come across it in a few cities, it's basically a thin morning newspaper using AP copy, so it's good. It;s usually on stands near train stations, bus stops that kind of thing, and with people handing it out around those areas.

Metro is an Associated Newspapers (Daily Mail, London Evening Standard etc) publicaion done in conjuction with The Irish Times. As far as I know, the Irish Times supply the printing side of things because they have spare capacity in their Citywest place and AP do the news. It will be very light news, most news stories around 2-300 words and fluffy features. Any music coverage will be slight or showbiz - they wont be reviewing the new Sigur Ros album in any great detail for instance It will be distributed in a good few centres nationwide. Iarnroid Eireann and Bus Eireann have refused to have it given out free on their property so expect to see it given out by people outside bus stations, train stations and at every traffic gridlock location in the land! As for free music mags from the Irish times or Indo, that would be very strange, Management in the Times think they already have a free music mag in The Ticket (apparently the readership figures for it and awareness of it are really, really high plus the ads have gone up sharply this year so everyone is happy) and I'd say the Indo management have similar views about Night & Day (ditto readership and ads).

I must be totally off the ball then, or the person who told me the rumour is anyway. On a side note, has anyone noticed how poor The Ticket has become over the last number of months? I used to look forward to reading it.

The Herald ARE publishing a free sheet it seems. So Independent Newspapers are trying to f**k up the Metro then. There's an article about it in the Sunday Tribune's business section today. And yes Gar, The Ticket needs some serious new blood. It's very boring.

yep a "herald"-lite is on the cards with a full-scale herald coming out as normal later in the day. will be an interesting battle cos i dont think the market here will necessarily support two of these things but we'll wait and see. in london, for instance, there's now another free Metro-style paper just for City workers (City AM, i think its called). as for the ticket needing new blood and getting boring - una and gar, email <theticket@irish-times.ie> and see what they think of your ideas!! you could be the new kevin courtney!

er, I'd rather not be the next Kevin Courtney, can't afford to blow my holiday savings on a new notepad and sex change.

as in, if I were to become the new Kevin Courtney I would need a sex change as I am a woman. KEVIN COURTNEY HAS NOT HAD A SEX CHANGE (as far as we know). But if you wish to spread that rumour Karl, NOTHING is stopping you (apart from the fact that it's untrue)

Carlsberg, Unas being a smartarse by taking an overly literal interpretation of becoming "the new kevin courtney", believing that she can assume his identity with some nifty gender reassignment surgery and some stationery. However she has fallen short of the mark and I reckon she would also need a face swap like that John Woo film and possibly some of kevins DNA which would be inserted into a retrovirus and used to modify her own genes. I hope this clears things up.

una? being a smartarse? come now. anyway, the standard of the ticket has dropped significantly. I'd like to see unicron writing for these things, i think he's one of the better writers on Cluas.

in paris everyone who takes the train in the morning picks up 'metro' (it's also available in mcdonalds) - it's usually all gone by 10am. it's really a very good paper (copy from AP, news, sport, culture and TV listings). I see very few people with paid-for newspapers on the train, so I guess in dublin it will affect the morning tabloids, especially the small 'indo'. having said that, running AP wire stories means that there isn't much room for local up-and-coming journalists - unless they actually have the kevin courtney sex-op, of course :D