Due to lower demand resulting in a reduction in its print run and distribution points for the summer months, free Dublin newspaper Herald AM dropped 23 percent in circulation during July.

Media buyers expect a return to more normal levels beginning in September.

The paper's rival free daily, Metro, was available at 208 places in July, while Herald AM was only found in 140. The slowdown at the Herald means circulation for July was down to just over 63,000, while Metro's average daily circulation was just over 76,000.

In June, Herald AM's circulation was over 81,000, while Metro's was just over 75,000.

“If the situation remains the same in the mid-October figures then I would be asking some serious questions,” Carat's head press buyer Garret Monaghan is quoted as saying by the Sunday Business Post.

The newspapers have been competing since both were launched last year. Herald AM's launch is seen as a tactical move by the Independent News & Media group to ward off competition from Metro, part of the Associated Newspaper stable, according a report by the Post.