The Derry Journal newspaper celebrates 250 years in print

The Derry Journal, known locally as The Journal, is the island of Ireland's oldest regional newspaper

One of the oldest newspapers in the world is celebrating its 250th anniversary.

The Derry Journal, known locally as The Journal, is the island of Ireland's oldest regional newspaper and was first published back on 3 June, 1772.

The paper's history is now the subject of an exhibition at Londonderry's Foyleside Shopping Centre.

Editor Brendan McDaid said the paper was a unique archive of the people and history of Ireland's north west.

"The paper has been there all along, and our story is the story of local people, of Derry and Donegal and the wider area," he told BBC Radio Foyle.

From the Act of Union in 1801, the World Wars, Northern Ireland's Troubles, Bloody Sunday to Brexit, the Derry Journal has reported on the region's seminal moments.

The Derry Journal front page of 4 February 1972, in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday

In a media world where technology is constantly evolving, The Journal continues to "mean something to people", Mr McDaid added.

It has been "a constant, a key observer of local events, the paper of record which has played a vital role in bringing the world to the people of the north west".

The paper has also "represented the people of the north west of Ireland to the world," he added.

"It has been an important voice, and many times a lone voice, championing local people across Derry, Donegal and Tyrone over those two and half centuries."

The Claudy bomb of 1972

The exhibition, which runs until 12 June, shows how The Journal's front pages have documented the history of the north west. It also charts the evolution of the paper.

First published as The Londonderry Journal and General Advertiser, its target readership was the Protestant nobility and gentry of the time.

As the 18th Century gave way to the 1800s, the paper began to take a more nationalist editorial stance and by 1880 had been renamed The Derry Journal.

In 1925, the McCarroll family took over ownership of the paper. It was an association that would continue well into the 1990s.

The Derry Journal is now owned by National World Publishing.

The first edition of 3 June 1772 cost a penny

"The focus of The Journal has always been local stories and national history - they have converged in the pages of the Journal right through," Mary McLaughlin, the paper's first female reporter, said.

Appointed in 1978, she would devote her entire career to the pages of The Derry Journal, also becoming the first woman to edit the paper.

Her professional career coincided with some of the worst moments of the Northern Ireland conflict.

"The Troubles were at their height, there were bombings and shootings every day," she said.

"You took it almost as normal, went into the mode of getting on with the job, reporting on it, so that people could find out exactly what was happening, and to give everyone the best perspective you could."

The exhibition runs until 12 June

Pat McArt edited the paper for 25 years, retiring in 2006.

It was a job that brought him to "a unique place at a unique time", he said.

As conflict gave way to the peace process, Mr McArt believes how The Journal recorded the move away from violence was the most significant reportage of his career.

It was a time when the era's political heavyweights John Hume and Martin McGuinness were frequently to be found in his office.

John Hume and Martin McGuinness were frequent visitors to the office

Mr McArt said: "I remember Martin McGuinness coming in one day; everyone had been asking when the IRA ceasefire was going to be called.

"I remember Martin was with someone else, but he came back in.

"He said, 'Don't go anywhere next Tuesday', so I knew it was coming.

"For 48 hours, I was possibly the only journalist in the world that knew that."

Longevity

Nowadays, it seems unlikely many newspapers would now be able to sustain such longevity, given the reliance on digital news, Mr McArt added.

"The Journal is a stand-out paper no matter which way you look at it and 250 years is a fantastic achievement.

"It is a paper with a scope and influence far beyond Derry and the north west."