Editor Mairtin O'Muilleoir recently said that the reduction in news stand days is a shift that would emulate USA Today, which is also published "ve days a week. Just how that comparison can be weighed up might leave some scratching their heads.

Daily Ireland has been troubled from its inception last year.

O'Muilleoir has said that an effective boycott by the Northern Ireland government of"ces on advertising in the newspaper has left it in a weakened "nancial position. In its own defence, the Northern Ireland Of"ce had said that it couldn't advertise in a publication without audited readership "gures.

Audited "gures are now available but the advertising hasn't materialised. By the middle of last year Daily Ireland's average daily sales clocked in at almost 10,500 . . .

higher than the expected 7,000, but still well shy of the original 20,000 target set by management.

Not long before those "gures were released, the newspaper let go about seven of its 30 staff. Since then, sales have slipped by about 4.5% to an average of 10,046 per day at the end of December. Almost 8,800 of those are paid, while the remainder are bulk sales.

Where that leaves Daily Ireland, which is part of the Andersonstown News group, remains to be seen.

Sources say that morale in the newsroom does not re"ect O'Muilleoir's positive outlook.

BREWING ROW OVER PROFITS IN HEINEKEN CUP The Heineken Cup rugby championship is spilling out from the pitches into team boardrooms. As Leinster played Toulouse and Munster played Perpignan in quarter-"nal matches yesterday, the future of the the competition may be in question.

As a result of a brewing row over how the 20m pro"t the championship makes is distributed, French teams have already threatened to pull out of the cup.

About 85% of pro"ts are distributed to clubs equally, while the remainder is split depending on performance. Serge Blanco, head of the French league, has said his nation's teams are effectively subsidising the Irish, Scottish and Welsh. Blanco wants his members to receive a larger cut of the proceeds made by the championship, which has previously been the subject of team discontent since its inception in 1995.

The Heineken sponsorship of the event has been successful and highpro"le, generating the type of coverage of which the beer company wants more. Last year, Heineken said it is ditching its 10m UK television advertising in favour of sports sponsorship . . . a decision undoubtedly helped by the positive impact of its rugby deal. About 120,000 people are expected to attend the quarter-"nal matches this weekend, with strong television audience "gures also a given.

NO LONGER THE REAL THING Is this it? Coca-Cola kicked off a worldwide advertising campaign this weekend in an effort to boost sales of its signature drink, which continues to perform relatively poorly on international markets. Sales of Coke have dropped for each of the past "ve years, and Coca-Cola has beefed up its annual marketing and development budget by $400m to over $2.5bn to reverse an overall lacklustre performance.

"We are drilling down into the DNA of Coke, and what makes people love Coke and drink Coke, " said Marc Mathieu, senior vice president of marketing for the CocaCola's trademark drink.

Advertisements feature slogans such as "Live on the Coke Side of Life" and "Dream on the Coke Side of Life".

The new adverts were created by Oregon-based Wieden & Kennedy, which has also worked for Nike and Starbucks. Coca-Cola pulled its creative work from New York's Berlin Cameron & Partners, a unit of WPP, after what was seen as an uncompelling campaign with the tagline "Make it Real".

Coca-Cola chief executive Neville Isdell, who's from Northern Ireland, said he "won't tolerate" further declines in the company's soft drink sales. Isdell, who had previously worked for the drinks company, was brought out of retirement in 2004 to take the top job and revive CocaCola's fortunes.

Earlier this month Coca-Cola said Isdell was paid $12.4m last year, which included a $4.5m bonus as well as share options and other remuneration. He was paid $17.5m the previous year.