The publisher of the Belfast Telegraph has announced long-term print contracts which it says will make Northern Ireland one of the biggest producers of daily newspapers in Europe.

Independent News and Media (NI) announced deals which will see the Daily Telegraph printed in the company’s high-tech plant at Newry for the next 15 years, and the Daily Mirror at its Belfast plant for the next seven years.

The deals, worth a total of £40m, represent two of the longest print agreements ever signed in the region and have been made possible by an IN&M investment strategy which has seen more than £50m spent on new presses in both centres.

It means IN&M in Northern Ireland will now be printing all Mirror titles, the Telegraph titles, the Sun and the News of the World, the Daily and Sunday Express and the Daily Star, as well its own titles the Independent, the Bel Tel and Sunday Life.

The full output from the two plants in Belfast and Newry will now cover 35 titles with 200m copies a year using 50,000 tonnes of newsprint.

INM chief executive in Northern Ireland, Mr Michael Brophy said: “The two agreements which are long term are a tribute to the people who have built the plants in Belfast and Newry and to the staff who work throughout the night every night to bring UK national newspapers to the streets of Northern Ireland.”