La Nua (New Day), Northern Ireland's only Irish-language daily newspaper, will close down at the end of the year when its contract for funding with Foras na Gaeilge expires, the Belfast Telegraph reported Tuesday.

The West-Belfast based newspaper will close shop after more than 20 years of production because official funding was withdrawn, according to its managing director. The closure will result in eight job losses.

Mairtin O Muilleoir said a proposal to supply online service at lower costs was rejected by funding from sponsoring body Foras na Gaeilge, which said the amount of readers along with sales figures were not high enough, according to the Belfast Telegraph.

"At a time when a Gaeltacht (Irish speaking) Quarter is taking shape in West Belfast, the decision to stop publishing a daily newspaper is counter-intuitive and unwise," O Muilleoir said.

The last edition of the paper will be distributed this Friday. Grant aid was worth up to €400,000, the Belfast Telegraph reported.

La Nua was launched in 1984 for a growing number of people living in West Belfast, and further the Irish language.