{"id":48080,"date":"2026-09-17T00:22:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T04:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/2026\/09\/17\/reach-to-close-galwaybeo-website-as-part-of-broader-cuts\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T00:22:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T04:22:55","slug":"reach-to-close-galwaybeo-website-as-part-of-broader-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/2026\/09\/17\/reach-to-close-galwaybeo-website-as-part-of-broader-cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"Reach to close GalwayBeo website as part of broader cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Irish news and sports website GalwayBeo is set to close as part of job cuts announced by its publisher owner Reach.<\/p>\n

Reach, the Daily Mirror and Daily Express publisher, said it would cut more than 200 editorial roles as part of an ongoing cost-cutting overhaul that will also see three titles close, including GalwayBeo.<\/p>\n

In an internal email to staff, the publisher behind a raft of regional titles said it is cutting 220 editorial roles, although 60 jobs will also be created in areas it is focusing more heavily on, such as subscriptions and longer-form video.<\/p>\n

Commercial teams at the group are also impacted, with around a further 65 roles out of about 500 in that division set to be cut.<\/p>\n

Reach’s Irish titles include the Irish Daily Mirror, the Irish Sunday Mirror and the Irish Daily Star as well as RSVP magazine and websites Dublin Live, Belfast Live, CorkBeo and GalwayBeo.<\/p>\n

Chief content officer David Higgerson said in the memo the firm is shutting its KentLive, AberdeenLive and GalwayBeo titles amid the changes.<\/p>\n

He told staff the group is continuing to be impacted by a decline in Google search referral traffic, as well as increasing competition from the BBC across the regions.<\/p>\n

“These headwinds, and others which also affect the whole industry, mean that we need to make these changes while also reducing our overall costs,” he said in a memo to staff.<\/p>\n

“I, along with the editorial senior leadership team, have reduced a range of non-people budgets in order to protect as many jobs as possible, and other teams across the business have seen or are seeing reductions this year too, but the scale of the challenge facing our wider industry is such that we have to enter next year a smaller editorial organisation,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We are also taking the difficult decisions to close three titles: KentLive, AberdeenLive and GalwayBeo”.<\/p>\n

“This is not a reflection of the work done on these titles, or the commitment of the journalists on them. The decision is based on our market position in these areas,” he said.<\/p>\n

The group said it will “look for opportunities to redeploy colleagues, reducing the need for compulsory redundancies, and will aim to keep everyone updated as we work through the changes”.<\/p>\n

The group has started a 45-day minimum consultation with affected employees, with journalism roles set to be impacted across print, digital and video operations.<\/p>\n

The latest job cuts follow a number of voluntary redundancy schemes launched by Reach among editorial workers earlier this year.<\/p>\n

In February it announced it was closing two of its three print sites in a move impacting nearly 240 workers.<\/p>\n

Last September, Reach said it was axing more than 320 journalism jobs in what it said was its biggest ever restructure, which followed just months after around 40 staff were made redundant across its sports editorial team.<\/p>\n

A recent trading update from the group – which also publishes titles such as the Daily Star, OK! Magazine, Manchester Evening News, and Liverpool Echo – revealed sales fell 9% in the first half of 2026 as page views plunged 40%.<\/p>\n

Chief executive Piers North said at the time the group was looking to create “greater independence from referral traffic” through the growth of subscription and video operations.<\/p>\n

In the staff email today, Mr Higgerson said: “We are in the middle of a mammoth shift in how audiences want content and journalism”.<\/p>\n

“To ensure a sustainable future for our journalism, we must focus our investment in the areas where our audiences spend the most time and where our revenue reflects the value of our work,” he said.<\/p>\n

“In our newsrooms, that means less emphasis on story volume and more on original journalism and distinctive brands. It also means that ‘active engaged time’ will become our north star metric, over and above page views, by the end of the year,” he added.<\/p>\n

Reach cuts an ‘act of self-sabotage’ – NUJ<\/h3>\n

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has condemned the planned redundancies by the UK and Ireland’s largest commercial publisher.<\/p>\n

It said that Reach remains a profitable company, despite its \u00a360 million-a-year pension deficit payments commitment. It has promised a \u00a396 million operating profit this year.<\/p>\n

The NUJ said that in July, its Reach group chapel urged management to halt further job losses, having previously warned that the company was in danger of becoming “addicted to redundancies”.<\/p>\n

Last year, the company cut over 300 roles across editorial and sports teams as part of a major restructure, and further rounds of redundancies have followed this year in regional print production and editorial teams. Print sites in Watford and Saltire have closed, resulting in hundreds of printworkers losing their jobs.<\/p>\n

Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said: “Cuts after cuts, year after year, have left our members at Reach deeply demoralised. The cumulative effect of relentless redundancies has been unsustainable workloads, unrealistic ‘content’ demands, and dedicated journalists living in constant fear of losing their livelihoods.<\/p>\n

“Continued cuts fundamentally undermine Reach’s recent strategic pivot to digital subscriptions and focus on original reporting, which had been broadly welcomed by our members.<\/p>\n

“This is an act of self-sabotage. A sustainable business model relies on quality journalism. And quality journalism relies on having skilled journalists who can ask questions, uncover stories, verify facts, hold power to account, and reflect community voices.<\/p>\n

“These cuts will have a direct impact on public access to news, with the closure of three online titles exacerbating the UK and Ireland’s local news drought and doing a disservice to readers<\/p>\n

“Redundancies are not the answer. If Reach has demonstrated one thing in the last year, it is that constant cost-cutting does not work. Instead of propping up operating profits and paying out dividends to shareholders, the company should invest in its journalists and focus on an emergency rescue plan to give the business the breathing space it needs.<\/p>\n

“The NUJ is seeking a detailed breakdown of the company’s proposals and will be engaging in formal consultations next month. We will hold a meeting for all members at Reach in the coming days and will be supporting them throughout this difficult time.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Irish news and sports website GalwayBeo is set to close as part of job cuts announced by its publisher owner Reach. Reach, the Daily Mirror and Daily Express publisher, said it would cut more than 200 editorial roles as part of an ongoing cost-cutting overhaul that will also see three titles close, including GalwayBeo. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-news","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}