Employees at Irish Daily Star have been notified that the publication would cut jobs and trim down wages of the remaining staff as part of its cost-cutting plan.

Irish Daily Star is a 50:50 joint venture (JV) between Independent News & Media and British publisher Northern & Shell. In September last year, Northern & Shell owner Richard Desmond had threatened to close the title.

Emerging reports suggest that the newspaper's joint ownership structure will exist, but Independent News & Media will assume day-to-day executive running of the paper.

As part of the cost-cutting plan, up to nine jobs will be cut from the circulation and advertising departments of the newspaper. More redundancies are expected to be announced later in the year. The paper currently has a full-time workforce of around 80 people.

The remaining staff will see 5 per cent cut in wage packets of up to _50,000 a year and a 7.5 per cent cut in all wages exceeding _50,000 a year.

Gerry Lennon will now also shoulder the responsibilities of the managing director of the Irish Daily Star, in addition to his current responsibilities of the managing director of the Sunday World.

Under Independent News & Media management the Irish Daily Star will remain as a stand-alone entity with its own board and identity. The company claimed that the decision was a very positive development to secure the future of the newspaper.