Alan Hartnett has been appointed as a Digital Media Journalist with LaoisToday.ie.
A native of Stradbally, and oldest son of Dominic and Assumpta Hartnett, Alan is a past pupil of Stradbally BNS and Knockbeg College and has a BA in Economics, Politics and Law and a MA in Journalism, both from Dublin City University.
Alan worked on a part-time basis for the Laois Nationalist since 2008 and as a features and digital writer for the Irish Sun from 2014 to 2016.
He is heavily involved in community life and as well as being chairman of Stradbally Parish Gaels club he is also secretary of T&S Utd soccer club. He also spent five seasons as part of the Laois senior football stats team under Justin McNulty, Tomas Ó Flatharta and Mick Lillis.
“Alan has been with us since before we even went live with the site,” said Steven Miller, owner and managing editor of LaoisToday.ie. “He has made a massive contribution and has an incredible knowledge and interest across a wide range of topics. We’re delighted to have a journalist of his calibre.”
David Power is also a regular contributor to LaoisToday.
A very talented journalist with over 20 years experience, David is combining his duties with LaoisToday.ie alongside a role with the Irish Independent.
He previously worked with the Longford News, Tullamore Tribune and Leinster Express and was editor of the Leinster Leader from 2010 to 2012.
“David has a mountain of local media experience and has also been central to LaoisToday since this project began,” added Steven.
“We’re lucky to have someone of David’s quality and thrilled that he has been able to commit to us.
“We also have a team of really good columnists as well and they add considerably to what we’re doing on a weekly basis.”
LaoisToday went live on February 7 this year and has attracted almost one million page views since with visitors coming from all over the world.
The only locally-owned media outlet in Laois, it has already become the most popular local media page on Facebook. LaoisToday also has a presence on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
“It has been a good start,” adds Steven, “but we’re still only getting going. Everything we do is about providing a quality, lively and fun service – and that applies to the content we generate and the people we have on our team.
“These are exciting times for LaoisToday. We will be rolling out our apps for Android and ioS devices in the coming months and we will be launching a number of other exciting initiatives as well. We are also planning to create more roles down the line and we will be looking to add to what is already an excellent team.”
