from our sports desk

Four months ago on Friday 7th March 2008 the Irish Times reported that shares in a British stock exchange quoted company called Johnston Press had reached a nine year low at 169 and a half pence. The price had fallen following what the Irish Times suggested was a "bear raid." A bear raid is when a lot of people sell a lot of your shares all at once. The Irish Times seemed to think that this "bear raid" might have been responsible for the sudden fall in the price of Johnston Press shares. Well, duhhhhh. The Irish Times suggested there were fears that Johnston Press could breach banking covenants if the advertising market slowed sharply. I don't know what banking covenants are but they sound like fun.

Since then Johnston Press has issued new shares into the market. At least one newspaper report has suggested that the new share issue has been a success. A new share issue might reasonably be expected to bring down the overall share price. We should therefore perhaps not read too much into recent more dramatic falls in the price of Johnston Press shares.

Last week the Irish Independent on its financial page wrote favourably of Johnston Press claiming that "speculation is mounting" about a possible takeover of the company. The Irish Independent noted that a Malaysian shareholder now owned twenty percent of Johnston Press. I wonder is he Muslim. Muslims are a peaceloving and gentle people, and make great bosses.

In my opinion there is no speculation either mounting or dismounting, or indeed doing anything else, in relation to Johnston Press. Nobody I know cares whether Johnston Press lives or dies. I would ask you to consider the notion that the phrase "speculation mounts" is often used by journalists who are trying to create some such speculation about a company in order to prod the share price upwards. I do not know what the Irish Independent's motivation was. It does not seem impossible to me that the Irish Independent would give a favourable review of Johnston Press merely to annoy me. But I would be interested to know whether or not Independent Newspapers has any shares in Johnston Press, or indeed any friends in Malaysia.

I was fired from the Leinster Leader, a newspaper owned by the Johnston Press, three weeks before Christmas.

Since then certain employees and ex employees of the Leinster Leader have contacted me to say that things have not gone entirely swimmingly since my departure.

Yesterday, on Friday 27th June 2008, the Daily Express reported that the share price of Johnston Press is now 60 pence.