On Wednesday last, the Galway Advertiser published the first edition of their new freesheet the Athlone Advertiser and they aim to capture a sizeable portion of the local advertising market.

Six days earlier, in a preemptive strike, sister papers the Westmeath Examiner and the Westmeath Independent produced their own freesheet, Westmeath Weekend.

Both papers are committing to delivering thousands of copies free of charge to householders in the region.

This week's launch brings to five the number of weekly titles focusing on Athlone.

Just over two years ago, the Athlone Voice entered the market but was sold at what is believed to have been a considerable loss in the last year.

The Galway Advertiser purchased another freesheet . . .

the Athlone Observer . . . in recent months and have now stood down that title.

This week's launch follows the Galway Advertiser'smove into Kilkenny, where they recently established the Kilkenny Advertiser.