After yesterday's news about the closure of The Phoenix magazine after 40 years,
No,
@ThePhoenixMag did not receive grants from Coimisiun na Mean, in contrast to its competitors, Village (€33,177 in Jan 2026) and Hotpress (€161,487).
Both Michael Smyth at Village and Niall Stokes at Hotpress would reject the notion that the grants undermine their output, but that won't stop the cynicism.
The €15m grants (and that was just Jan 2026, there's been another round of grants for programme production for broadcasters) are beginning to look influential to the viability of media outlets. And the cynicism looks set to grow.
Is this transaction driven by Coimisiun na Mean which handed out €119,149 to The Kerryman in January 2026, but didn't give a red cent to Kerry's Eye.
Kerry's Eye has now sold up.