Metro International publishes 58 daily editions of Metro in 19 countries around the world. Every day, Metro is read by 16.8 million readers in 82 major cities. Over a week Metro is read by 35 million readers.

Dublin commuters this morning were offered copies of the Metro, the first free daily newspaper to be launched in Ireland. 

The freesheet is a joint venture between the Irish Times, Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Mail newspapers and Metro International, the Swedish company that has pioneered free newspapers in both Europe and the US.  The Irish Times has invested €1 million in the operation and its printing plant in Citywest, Dublin, prints the newspaper. 

Rupert Murdoch, head of News Corporation, admitted in February that Associated's Metro edition in London, may have dented circulation of his top-selling Sun tabloid by as many as 40,000 copies per day. "The record of these free newspapers has been ... to more seriously damage existing newspapers," Murdoch said.

In the US, the New York Times Company in January bought a 49% stake in Metro International's Boston operation for $16.5 million. Even Associated appears to be cannibalising itself. Circulation of its own paid-for London title, the Evening Standard, fell 10.8% in the five months to March.

The newspaper will be available every morning, Monday to Friday from 6.30am onwards. Metro has a target circulation of 50,000 copies and has 35 employees.

'This represents a new era for newspapers in this market. Metro-style newspapers are the fastest growing newspapers in the world and the Dublin edition of Metro is the latest installment in what has become a global publishing phenomenon,' Lee Thompson, Managing Director of Metro in Ireland said.

'Dublin is a young, vibrant, and growing city, which matches the Metro brand perfectly. We look forward to giving Dublin urbanites their own Metro Moment on the way to work each morning,' he added.

The multinational Independent News and Media (INM) has launched a rival freesheet called Herald AM and has promised a robust response to the Metro. INM faces a threat to its Dublin afternoon paper the Evening Herald and the Daily Star, in which it has a 50% interest in a joint venture with Express Newspapers.